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MRS.   SlDDONS  AS   THE  TRAGIC   MUSE    {Reynolds} 


SHAKESPEARE'S 


TRAGEDY   OF 


MACBETH 


EDITED,   WITH   NOTES 
BY 

WILLIAM    J.    ROLFE,    Lixx.D. 

FORMERLY   HEAD   MASTER   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL 
CAMBRIDGE,    MASS. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW    YORK  •:•  CINCINNATI  •:•  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1877  AND  1898,  BY 
HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 

COPYRIGHT,  1903,  BY 
WILLIAM   J.   ROLFE. 


MACBETH. 
W.   P.    3 


PREFACE 


THIS  edition  of  Macbeth,  first  published  in  1877,  is 
now  revised  on  the  same  general  plan  as  the  Merchant 
of  Venice  and  other  plays  that  have  preceded  it. 

Most  of  the  notes  on  textual  -variations  (of  less  im- 
portance in  this  play  than  in  some  others,  as  the  folio 
text  is  the  only  early  one)  have  been  either  omitted  or 
abridged.  Teachers  in  secondary  schools  or  in  colleges 
who  may  wish  to  give  more  attention  to  this  subject 
will  of  course  make  use  of  Dr.  Furness's  encyclopedic 
edition  of  the  play,  which  in  other  ways  also  they  will 
find  indispensable. 

I  have  likewise  omitted  most  of  the  "  Critical  Com- 
ments "  from  the  introduction  and  elsewhere,  as  the 
books  from  which  they  were  taken  are  now  generally 
accessible  in  public  and  school  libraries.  For  these 
extracts  I  have  substituted  comments  of  my  own,  in  the 
course  of  which  I  have  attempted  to  settle  some  ques- 
tions that  have  been  much  discussed,  but,  to  my  think- 
ing, never  satisfactorily  answered.  I  have  endeavoured 
to  show  how  Shakespeare  himself  answers  them,  instead 
of  reading  into  the  play  what  is  not  there,  as  some 
excellent  critics  seem  to  me  to  have  done. 

In  the  Appendix  I  have  discussed  certain  questions 
concerning  the  character  of  Banquo  that  have  been 
raised  in  recent  years  by  German  and  other  critics  ; 
and  concerning  the  part  of  Hecate,  which  I  cannot 
believe  to  be  from  the  hand  of  Shakespeare.  These 


2055969 


6  Preface 

questions,  also,  I  endeavour  to  settle  by  the  internal 
evidence  of  the  play. 

I  have  retained  the  extracts  from  Holinshed  in  the 
introduction  to  the  Notes,  because  I  think  they  will 
interest  many  readers  and  students  who  may  not  have 
Furness's  edition  at  hand,  or  would  not  look  the  matter 
up  in  a  separate  book.  Young  students  might  well 
read  parts  of  it  with  the  teacher,  as  a  quaint  specimen 
of  Elizabethan  prose. 

The  Notes  have  been  carefully  revised  throughout, 
some  being  abridged,  some  expanded,  and  new  one1,, 
added,  including  a  considerable  number  in  place  of 
those  referring  to  my  editions  of  other  plays.  Thu 
book  is  now  absolutely  complete  in  itself. 

I  believe  that  teachers  and  students  will  prefer  trm 
new  edition  to  the  old  one  ;  but  both  can  be  used,  with 
out  serious  inconvenience,  in  the  same  class  or  club. 


CONTENTS 

FACE 

INTRODUCTION  TO  MACBETH          .  .        .        .  .  9 

The  History  of  the  Play  .         .         .  ...  .  9 

The  Historical  Sources  of  the  Play.  .         .         .  .  12 

Macbeth  and  Lady  Macbeth    .         .  .         .         .  15 

MACBETH  .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        -43 

Act  I 45 

Act  II  .        .        .        ...      .        .        .        .        .        .       67 

Act  III    . 83 

Act  IV .        .105 

Act  V  .         .        .        .         ...       V        .         .128 

HOTES      .  ..........       149 

APPENDIX       .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  282 

Comments  on  Some  of  the  Characters       ....  282 

The  Time- Analysis  of  the  Play         .         .         .         .         .  296 

List  of  Characters  in  the  Play 299 

INDEX  OF  WORDS  AND  PHRASES  EXPLAINED         .        .        .  301 


INVERNESS 


INTRODUCTION  TO  MACBETH 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PLAY 

Macbeth  was  first  printed  in  the  folio  of  1623,  where 
it  occupies  pages  131  to  151  inclusive,  in  the  division 
of  "  Tragedies."  It  was  registered  in  the  books  of  the 
Stationers'  Company,  on  the  8th  of  November,  1623,  by 
Blount  and  Jaggard,  the  publishers  of  the  folio,  as  one 
of  the  plays  "  not  formerly  entered  to  other  men."  It 
was  written  between  1604  and  1610;  the  former  limit 
being  fixed  by  the  allusion  to  the  union  of  England  and 
Scotland  under  James  I.  (iv.  i.  121),  and  the  latter  by 
the  MS.  Diary  of  Dr.  Simon  Forman,  who  saw  the  play 

9 


io  Macbeth 

performed  "at  the  Globe,  1610,  the  2oth  of  April, 
Saturday."  It  may  then  have  been  a  new  play,  but  it 
is  more  probable,  as  nearly  all  the  critics  agree,  that 
it  was  written  in  1605  or  1606.  The  accession  of 
James  made  Scottish  subjects  popular  in  England,  and 
the  tale  of  Macbeth  and  Banquo  would  be  one  of  the 
first  to  be  brought  forward,  as  Banquo  was  held  to  be 
an  ancestor  of  the  new  king.  A  Latin  "  interlude  "  on 
this  subject  was  performed  at  Oxford  in  1605,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  king's  visit  to  the  city;  but  there  is  no 
reason  for  supposing  that  Shakespeare  got  the  hint  of 
his  tragedy  from  that  source. 

It  is  barely  possible  that  there  was  an  earlier  play  on 
the  subject  of  Macbeth.  Collier  finds  in  the  Registers 
of  the  Stationers'  Company,  under  date  of  August  27, 
1596,  the  entry  of  a  "  Ballad  of  Makdobeth,"  which  he 
gives  plausible  reasons  for  supposing  to  have  been  a 
drama,  and  not  a  "  ballad  "  properly  so  called.  There 
appears  to  be  a  reference  to  the  same  piece  in  Kemp's 
Nine  Days'  Wonder,  printed  in  1600,  where  it  is  called 
a  "  miserable  stolne  story,"  and  said  to  be  the  work  of 
"  a  penny  Poet." 

Steevens  maintained  that  Shakespeare  was  indebted, 
in  the  supernatural  parts  of  Macbeth,  to  The  Witch,  a 
play  by  Thomas  Middleton,  which  was  discovered  in 
manuscript  towards  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Malone  at  first  took  the  same  view  of  the  subject, 
but  finally  came  to  the  conclusion  that  Middleton's 
play  was  the  later  production,  and  that  he  must  there- 


Introduction  1 1 

fore  be  the  plagiarist.  The  Clarendon  Press  editors 
take  the  ground  that  there  are  portions  of  Macbeth 
which  Shakespeare  did  not  write  ;  that  these  were  inter- 
polated after  the  poet's  death,  or  at  least  after  he  had 
ceased  to  be  connected  with  the  theatre  ;  and  that  "  the 
interpolator  was,  not  improbably,  Thomas  Middleton." 
These  views  have  found  little  favour  with  other 
Shakespearian  critics.  A  more  satisfactory  explana- 
tion of  the  imperfections  of  the  play  ascribes  them  to 
the  haste  with  which  it  was  written.  White,  who  refers 
its  composition  to  "  the  period  between  October,  1604, 
and  August,  1605,"  remarks  :  "  I  am  the  more  inclined 
to  this  opinion  from  the  indications  which  the  play 
itself  affords  that  it  was  produced  upon  an  emergency. 
It  exhibits  throughout  the  hasty  execution  of  a  grand 
and  clearly  conceived  design.  But  the  haste  is  that  of 
a  master  of  his  art,  who,  with  conscious  command  of 
its  resources,  and  in  the  frenzy  of  a  grand  inspiration, 
works  out  his  composition  to  its  minutest  detail  of 
essential  form,  leaving  the  work  of  surface  finish  for 
the  occupation  of  cooler  leisure.  What  the  Sistine 
Madonna  was  to  Raphael,  it  seems  that  Macbeth  was  to 
Shakespeare  —  a  magnificent  impromptu ;  that  kind  of 
impromptu  which  results  from  the  application  of  well- 
disciplined  powers  and  rich  stores  of  thought  to  a  sub- 
ject suggested  by  occasion.  I  am  inclined  to  regard 
Macbeth  as,  for  the  most  part,  a  specimen  of  Shake- 
speare's unelaborated,  if  not  unfinished,  writing,  in  the 
maturity  and  highest  vitality  of  his  genius.  It  abounds 


12  Macbeth 

in  instances  of  extremest  compression  and  most  daring 
ellipsis,  while  it  exhibits  in  every  scene  a  union  of 
supreme  dramatic  and  poetic  power,  and  in  almost 
every  line  an  imperially  irresponsible  control  of  lan- 
guage. Hence,  I  think,  its  lack  of  completeness  of 
versification  in  certain  passages,  and  also  some  of  the 
imperfection  of  the  text,  the  thought  in  which  the 
compositors  were  not  always  able  to  follow  and  appre- 
hend." 

THE  HISTORICAL  SOURCES  OF  THE  PLAY 

Shakespeare  drew  the  materials  for  the  plot  of 
Macbeth  from  Holinshed's  "  Chronicles  of  Englande, 
Scotlande,  and  Ireland,"  the  first  edition  of  which  was 
issued  in  1577,  and  the  second  (which  was  doubtless 
the  one  the  poet  used)  in  1586-87.  The  extracts 
from  Holinshed  in  the  notes  will  show  that  the  main 
incidents  are  taken  from  his  account  of  two  separate 
events,  —  the  murder  of  Duncan  by  Macbeth,  and  that 
of  King  Duffe,  the  great-grandfather  of  Lady  Macbeth, 
by  Donwald.  It  will  be  seen,  too,  that  Shakespeare 
has  deviated  in  other  respects  from  the  chronicle, 
especially  in  the  character  of  Banquo. 

Although,  as  Knight  remarks,  "  the  interest  of  Mac- 
beth is  not  an  historical  interest,"  so  that  it  matters 
little  whether  the  action  is  true  or  has  been  related  as 
true,  I  may  add,  for  the  benefit  of  my  younger  readers, 
that  the  story  of  the  drama  is  almost  wholly  apocry- 


Introduction  13 

phal.  The  more  authentic  history  is  thus  summarized 
by  Sir  Walter  Scott :  - 

"  Duncan,  by  his  mother  Beatrice  a  grandson  of  Mal- 
colm II.,  succeeded  to  the  throne  on  his  grandfather's 
death,  in  1033  :  he  reigned  only  six  years.  Macbeth, 
his  near  relation,  also  a  grandchild  of  Malcolm  II., 
though  by  the  mother's  side,  was  stirred  up  by  ambi- 
tion to  contest  the  throne  with  the  possessor.  The 
Lady  of  Macbeth  also,  whose  real  name  was  Graoch, 
had  deadly  injuries  to  avenge  on  the  reigning  prince. 
She  was  the  granddaughter  of  Kenneth  IV.,  killed 
1003,  fighting  against  Malcolm  II.;  and  other  causes 
for  revenge  animated  the  mind  of  her  who  has  been 
since  painted  as  the  sternest  of  women.  The  old  annal- 
ists add  some  instigations  of  a  supernatural  kind  to  the 
influence  of  a  vindictive  woman  over  an  ambitious  hus- 
band. Three  women,  of  more  than  human  stature  and 
beauty,  appeared  to  Macbeth  in  a  dream  or  vision,  and 
hailed  him  successively  by  the  titles  of  Thane  of  Cro- 
marty,  Thane  of  Moray,  which  the  king  afterwards 
bestowed  on  him,  and  finally  by  that  of  King  of  Scots ; 
this  dream,  it  is  said,  inspired  him  with  the  seductive 
hopes  so  well  expressed  in  the  drama. 

"  Macbeth  broke  no  law  of  hospitality  in  his  attempt 
on  Duncan's  life.  He  attacked  and  slew  the  king  at 
a  place  called  Bothgowan,  or  the  Smith's  House,  near 
Elgin,  in  1039,  and  not,  as  has  been  supposed,  in  his 
own  castle  of  Inverness.  The  act  was  bloody,  as  was 
the  complexion  of  the  times ;  but,  in  very  truth,  the 


14  Macbeth 

claim  of  Macbeth  to  the  throne,  according  to  the  rule 
of  Scottish  succession,  was  better  than  that  of  Duncan. 
As  a  king,  the  tyrant  so  much  exclaimed  against  was, 
in  reality,  a  firm,  just,  and  equitable  prince.1  Appre- 
hensions of  danger  from  a  party  which  Malcolm,  the 
eldest  son  of  the  slaughtered  Duncan,  had  set  on  foot 
in  Northumberland,  and  still  maintained  in  Scotland, 
seem,  in  process  of  time,  to  have  soured  the  temper  of 
Macbeth,  and  rendered  him  formidable  to  his  nobility. 
Against  Macduff,  in  particular,  the  powerful  Maormor 
of  Fife,  he  had  uttered  some  threats  which  occasioned 
that  chief  to  fly  from  the  court  of  Scotland.  Urged  by 
this  new  counsellor,  Siward,  the  Danish  Earl  of  North- 
umberland, invaded  Scotland  in  the  year  1054,  display- 
ing his  banner  in  behalf  of  the  banished  Malcolm. 
Macbeth  engaged  the  foe  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his 
celebrated  castle  of  Dunsinane.  He  was  defeated,  but 
escaped  from  the  battle,  and  was  slain  at  Lumphanan 
in  1056." 

Whether  Shakespeare  was  ever  in  Scotland  is  a  ques- 
tion that  has  been  much  discussed.  Knight  {Biography, 
ed.  1865,  p.  420  fol.)  endeavours  to  prove  that  the  poet 
visited  that  country  in  1589,  but  most  of  the  editors 
agree  that  there  is  no  satisfactory  evidence  of  his  hav- 
ing ever  been  there.'2 

1  This  view  is  confirmed  by  Mr.  E.  A.  Freeman   (Norman  Conquest, 
ii-  P-  55)  :  "  All  genuine  Scottish  tradition  points  to  the  reign  of  Macbeth 
as  a  period  of  unusual  peace  and  prosperity  in  that  disturbed  land." 

2  For  a  good  summary  of  the   discussion   see   Furness's   Macbeth, 
p.  407  fol.  (488  fol.  in  revised  ed.). 


Introduction  15 

MACBETH  AND  LADY  MACBETH 

Concerning  the  two  leading  characters  of  the  play, 
Macbeth  and  his  Lady,  there  has  been  much  discussion 
and  a  wide  divergence  of  opinion.  Let  us  examine  the 
play  for  such  facts  relating  to  them  as  we  can  discover, 
and  consider  what  inferences  we  may  draw  from  these 
facts  as  to  the  characters  and  relations  of  the  pair. 

At  the  opening  of  the  play  Macbeth  is  the  thane  of 
Glamis  and  a  captain  in  the  Scottish  army,  which  has 
just  won  a  victory  over  the  king  of  Norway,  who  was 
aided  by  a  force  of  rebels  under  the  command  of  the 
thane  of  Cawdor.  Macbeth  and  his  fellow-captain 
Banquo  have  performed  prodigies  of  valour  in  the  bat- 
tle, and  are  on  their  way  home  from  the  field  when 
they  are  met  by  the  three  witches,  as  Shakespeare  calls 
them,  and  as  they  are  called  in  the  old  chronicle  from 
which  he  took  the  main  incidents  of  his  plot.  They 
appear  to  be  simply  the  witches  of  ancient  superstition, 
—  hags  who  have  gained  a  measure  of  superhuman 
knowledge  and  power  by  a  league  with  Satan,  to  whom 
they  have  sold  their  souls  and  pledged  their  service. 
From  the  first  scene  of  the  play  we  learn  that  they 
have  planned  this  meeting  with  Macbeth,  whom,  in 
reply  to  his  startled  question,  "What  are  you?"  they 
hail,  one  after  another,  as  "  thane  of  Glamis,"  then 
"  thane  of  Cawdor,"  and  finally,  "  Macbeth,  that  shalt 
be  king  hereafter  ! "  Banquo  then  asks  what  prediction 
they  have  for  him ;  and  in  turn  they  address  him  as 


1 6  Macbeth 

"  Lesser  than  Macbeth  and  greater,"  "  Not  so  happy, 
yet  much  happier,"  and  add,  "  Thou  shalt  get  kings, 
though  thou  be  none."  Macbeth  would  fain  have  them 
tell  him  more,  but  they  vanish  with  no  response  to  his 
eager  appeal. 

A  moment  later,  Ross  and  Angus  arrive  as  messen- 
gers from  King  Duncan,  by  whose  command  they  hail 
Macbeth  as  "  thane  of  Cawdor." 

Here  occurs  one  of  the  inconsistencies  of  the  play 
which  puzzle  the  critics.  In  the  interview  with  the 
Witches  Macbeth  had  said :  — 

"  By  Sinel's  death  I  know  I  am  thane  of  Glamis, 
But  how  of  Cawdor  ?  the  thane  of  Cawdor  lives, 
A  prosperous  gentleman." 

This  may  have  been  said  merely  to  draw  out  an  explana- 
tion from  them,  though  he  must  have  been  aware  that 
Cawdor  was  a  traitor  who  had  just  been  conquered  and 
taken  prisoner  in  the  battle  from  which  he  himself  was 
returning.  But  when  Ross  hails  Macbeth  as  "  thane  of 
Cawdor,"  the  latter  replies:  — 

"  The  thane  of  Cawdor  lives  ;   why  do  you  dress  me 
In  borrowed  robes  ?  " 

Angus  then  states  that  Cawdor  lives  indeed,  but  is  con- 
demned to  death  for  treason  ;  but  just  what  his  treason 
was  he  does  not  know.  This  is  not  easily  explained,  as 
Ross,  who  is  now  present  with  Angus,  had  in  a  former 
scene  informed  Duncan  of  Cawdor's  presence  in  the 


Introduction  17 

battle  as  an  ally  of  the  Norwegian  king ;  and  Ross  him- 
self had  been  directed  to  see  Cawdor  executed,  and  his 
title  given  to  Macbeth. 

We  know,  however,  that  such  inconsistencies  not  un- 
frequently  occur  in  plays  that  appear  to  have  been 
written  less  hurriedly  than  Macbeth  evidently  was  ;  and 
this  may  be  an  instance  of  the  kind.  If  scene  2  of  this 
act  is  an  addition  by  another  hand,  as  some  suppose, 
Shakespeare  may  not  be  responsible  for  the  fault. 

In  the  soliloquy  that  follows  this  announcement  of 
the  new  honour  conferred  upon  him,  Macbeth  says :  — 

"  Two  truths  are  told 
As  happy  prologues  to  the  swelling  act 
Of  the  imperial  theme.  —  I  thank  you,  gentlemen.  — 
[Aside.]  This  supernatural  soliciting 
Cannot  be  ill,  cannot  be  good.     If  ill, 
Why  hath  it  given  me  earnest  of  success, 
Commencing  in  a  truth  ?     I  am  thane  of  Cawdor. 
If  good,  why  do  I  yield  to  that  suggestion 
Whose  horrid  image  doth  unfix  my  hair, 
And  make  my  seated  heart  knock  at  my  ribs, 
Against  the  use  of  nature  ?     Present  fears 
Are  less  than  horrible  imaginings. 
My  thought,  whose  murther  yet  is  but  fantastical, 
Shakes  so  my  single  state  of  man  that  function 
Is  smother'd  in  surmise,  and  nothing  is 
But  what  is  not." 

Here,  almost  at  the  moment  when  the  prediction  con- 
cerning the  thaneship  of  Cawdor  is  fulfilled,  we  find 
Macbeth  meditating  murder,  that  he  may  bring  about 

MACBETH  —  2 


1 8  Macbeth 

the  fulfilment  of  the  prediction  that  he  shall  be  king 
hereafter.  To  one  critic  at  least  this  seems  rather  sud- 
den, but  he  ascribes  it  to  the  rapidity  with  which  the 
action  of  this  play  rushes  on  from  first  to  last.  To  my 
thinking,  it  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  one  of  the  most 
marked  characteristics  of  Macbeth,  —  his  active  imag- 
ination. This  is  the  key  to  much  that  he  afterwards 
says  and  does. 

In  The  Tempest,  when  Antonio  is  tempting  Sebastian 
to  murder  King  Alonso,  he  says  :  — 

"  What  might, 
Worthy  Sebastian  ?  — O,  what  might  ?  .  .  . 

The  occasion  speaks  thee,  and 
My  strong  imagination  sees  a  crown 
Dropping  upon  thy  head." 

This  might  be  said  of  Macbeth  at  this  point  in  his 
career.  Not  only  is  he  sure  that  the  prophecy  is  to  be 
fulfilled,  but,  to  quote  the  words  of  the  Lady  in  another 
scene,  he  "  feels  now  the  future  in  the  instant."  His 
strong  imagination  sees  the  crown  suspended  over  his 
head,  as  later  he  sees  the  air-drawn  dagger  marshalling 
him  the  way  to  murder.  The  golden  prize  hangs 
within  his  reach.  It  is  held  only  by  the  slender  thread 
of  an  old  man's  life.  He  has  but  to  cut  that  thread, 
and  the  crown  is  his.  "  Come,  let  me  clutch  thee  !  "  is 
his  mental  exclamation.  But  the  "  horrid  image  "  of 
the  murder  comes  before  his  mind's  eye  with  equal 
vividness,  and  makes  his  seated  heart  knock  at  his 


Introduction  19 

ribs.  The  bloody  deed  is  as  yet  but  "  fantastical  "  —  a 
thing  of  fancy  —  but  it  is  as  real  to  him  and  as  frightful 
as  the  ghost  of  Banquo,  which  is  no  outward  apparition, 

but 

"A  [spectre]  of  the  mind,  a  false  creation,  • 

Proceeding  from  the  heat -oppressed  brain." 

It  is  the  bloody  business  which  informs  thus  to  his  eyes 
—  that  makes  the  fearful  visions  of  his  excited  imagina- 
tion seem  to  take  palpable  shape  before  him. 

Is  this  the  first  suggestion  of  murder  that  has  occurred 
to  Macbeth  ?  Some  of  the  best  critics  believe  that  he 
had  meditated  this  bloody  treason  before  the  beginning 
of  the  play.  They  infer  this  from  what  Lady  Macbeth 
says,  when,  in  a  subsequent  scene,  he  determines  that 
he  will  proceed  no  further  in  this  business  of  murder 
(i.  7.  49):- 

"  When  you  durst  do  it,  then  you  were  a  man  ; 
And,  to  be  more  than  what  you  were,  you  would 
Be  so  much  more  the  man.     ATor  time  nor  place 
Did  then  adhere,  and  yet  you  would  make  both." 

This  is  the  only  passage  in  the  play  that  can  be  con- 
strued as  a  hint  that  Macbeth  had  plotted  the  taking- 
off  of  Duncan  at  some  earlier  time,  and  that  the  Lady 
had  advised  him  to  wait  for  a  more  favourable  oppor- 
tunity. I  do  not  think  that  we  are  driven  to  this  inter- 
pretation, or  that  it  is  necessary,  if  we  reject  it,  to 
suppose  that  a  scene  has  been  lost  or  omitted  in  which 
the  pair  had  discussed  their  plans  for  the  crime.  There 


20  Macbeth 

has  been  an  interval  sufficient  for  such  discussion,  but 
Shakespeare  did  not  deem  it  necessary  or  desirable  to 
introduce  it  into  the  play.  We  have  evidence  in  the 
play  as  it  stands  that  the  words  I  have  quoted  from 
Lady  Macbeth's  speech  cannot  refer  to  a  time  previous 
to  the  dramatic  action.  Such  a  supposition  is  inconsis- 
tent with  her  soliloquy  after  reading  Macbeth's  letter  in 
which  he  tells  her  the  Witches  have  predicted  that  he  is 
to  be  king.  She  fears  his  nature,  which  will  not  permit 
him  to  "  catch  the  nearest  way" — that  is,  to  kill  Dun- 
can. If  at  any  former  time  he  had  proposed  to  kill 
him,  she  could  have  no  doubt  of  his  being  willing  to  do 
it  now.  She  could  not  have  thought  that,  though  he 
had  ambition,  he  was  without  the  illness  that  should 
attend  it,  and  that  the  valour  of  her  tongue  must  over- 
come his  repugnance  to  the  crime.  A  moment  after- 
wards she  asserts  that  she  will  have  to  commit  the 
crime  herself.  At  the  close  of  that  terrible  apostrophe 
to  the  spirits  of  darkness  in  which  she  prays  that  she 
may  be  unsexed  and  filled  with  direst  cruelty,  she 

says :  — 

"  Come,  thick  night, 

And  pall  thee  in  the  dunnest  smoke  of  hell, 
That  my  keen  knife  see  not  the  wound  it  makes, 
Nor  heaven  peep  through  the  blanket  of  the  dark, 
To  cry  <  Hold,  hold  !  '  " 

She  is  to  use  the  knife,  not  urge 'her  husband  to  do 
what  she  assumes  he  will  fear  to  do.  When  Macbeth 
comes  in,  she  says  to  him :  — 


Introduction  21 

"  He  that  's  coming 

Must  be  provided  for;   and  you  shall  put 
This  night's  great  business  into  my  dispatch." 

She  will  be  responsible  for  dispatching  this  business. 
Macbeth  says  :  "  We  will  speak  further  ;  "  but  she  tells 
him  that  all  he  is  to  do  is  only  to  "  look  up  clear,"  and 
not  to  betray  their  purpose  by  his  perturbed  countenance. 
"  Leave  all  the  rest  to  me,"  are  her  parting  words. 

When  Macbeth  next  appears  (i.  7),  we  find  that  he 
is  to  "  bear  the  knife  "  against  his  kinsman  and  king, 
and  when  the  Lady  comes  in,  it  is  evident  that  this  is 
the  plan  on  which  they  have  agreed.  She  tells  him 
that  he  has  "  sworn  "  to  do  the  deed,  and  after  she  has 
satisfied  him  that  there  is  no  danger  of  failure  he  is 
ready  for  the  "  terrible  feat." 

Here  we  see  that  there  has  been  a  change  in  their 
plans.  The  Lady  is  not  to  kill  Duncan,  but  Macbeth  is 
to  undertake  it.  He  has  "  sworn  "  to  do  it.  This  must 
have  been  arranged  at  an  interview  between  the  two 
scenes  we  have  been  considering.  There  was  time  for 
such  an  interview,  but  if  there  had  not  been,  it  would 
not  have  troubled  Shakespeare.  In  this  play  a  whole 
scene  occurs  (iii.  6)  to  which  no  possible  time  can  be 
assigned,  and  such  scenes  are  found  in  other  of  the  plays. 

In  the  present  instance,  however,  there  is  no  such 
impossibility.  Duncan  arrives  at  the  castle  before 
dark,  as  the  dialogue  outside  the  walls  (i.  6)  clearly 
shows.  The  banquet  is  some  hours  later.  In  the 
interim  the  king  may  be  supposed  to  be  resting  in 


22  Macbeth 

his  chamber  after  the  journey.  Macbeth  and  the  Lady 
have  the  opportunity  for  "  speaking  further  "  concern- 
ing their  plot,  as  he  had  proposed.  The  vision  of 
the  crown  again  rises  to  his  imagination,  and  he  is 
impatient  to  cut  the  thread  that  prevents  his  clutching 
it.  He  seems  to  have  suggested  some  rash  way  of 
doing  this  at  once,  and  doing  it  himself,  but  the  Lady 
sees  that  neither  the  time  nor  the  place  which  he  pro- 
poses is  suited  to  the  purpose.  She  suggests  that  it 
will  be  safer  to  wait  until  a  later  hour,  when  the  king 
and  everybody  but  themselves  is  in  bed.  Since  she 
now  finds  that  Macbeth  is  willing  to  do  the  killing,  she 
naturally  transfers  that  part  of  the  business  to  him  ; 
but,  lest  his  fears  and  scruples  should  lead  him  to 
waver  again,  she  exacts  an  oath  that  no  compunctious 
visitings  of  nature  shall  shake  his  fell  purpose  to  bear 
the  knife  himself.  When,  in  the  scene  that  follows,  his 
thought  of  the  risk  of  failure  makes  him  shrink  from 
doing  what  he  has  sworn  to  do,  she  overwhelms  him 
with  bitterest  reproaches  for  his  cowardice  and  perfidy, 
and,  to  relieve  his  apprehensions,  adds  to  the  pre- 
cautions already  agreed  upon  the  drugging  of  the 
possets  furnished  to  the  king's  guards  when  they  re- 
tire with  him  to  his  chamber.  This  reassures  Mac- 
beth, and  his  courage  is  at  last  screwed  to  the 
sticking-place. 

This  may  or  may  not  have  been  precisely  what 
Shakespeare  had  in  mind  for  filling  the  gap  between 
the  two  scenes  in  which  the  pair  soliloquize  and  confer 


Introduction  23 

concerning  the  method  of  the  murder  ;  but  it  is  certain 
that  we  are  not  compelled  to  assume  that  the  Lady's 
allusion  to  Macbeth's  readiness  to  kill  the  king  at  some 
former  time  and  place  must  refer  to  a  period  before 
the  beginning  of  the  play.  If  that  had  been  Shake- 
speare's meaning,  he  would  have  given  us  some  more 
distinct  intimation  of  it  than  this  single  passage  fur- 
nishes. This  interpretation,  I  may  add,  is  not  only 
inconsistent  with  what  the  Lady  says  of  her  husband's 
nature,  but  also  with  what  he  himself  says  (or  solilo- 
quizes) when  he  finds  the  prophecy  of  the  Witches  ful- 
filled in  part  by  his  being  made  thane  of  Cawdor.  If 
the  purpose  of  killing  Duncan  had  occurred  to  him 
before  that  time,  the  "  horrid  image  "  of  the  suggestion 
could  not  have  affected  him  as  it  does.  Rather  would 
he  have  welcomed  the  prophecy  as  a  supernatural  en- 
couragement of  his  plot  of  murder  and  usurpation.  The 
obvious  meaning  of  his  words  is  that  the  plot  is  then 
first  suggested  to  him,  and  that  the  horror  of  it  almost 
overwhelms  him.  His  imagination  sees  not  only  the 
crown,  but  the  blood  that  must  stain  his  hands  if  they 
are  to  clutch  it  before  it  falls.  No  wonder  that  for  the 
moment  the  sorry  sight  of  that  blood,  though  only 
fantastical,  makes  him  hesitate  :  — 

"  If  chance  will  have  me  king,  why,  chance  may  crown  me, 
Without  my  stir." 

But  it  is  only  for  the  moment  that  he  can  reason  thus 
rationally  and  virtuously.  Again  his  eyes  turn  to  the 


24  Macbeth 

resplendent  prize,  and  the  blood  that  must  be  shed  to 
gain  it  is  forgotten. 

We  may  now  consider  it  settled  beyond  any  reason- 
able doubt  that  the  purpose  of  attaining  the  crown  by 
the  murder  of  Duncan  occurs  independently  to  both 
Macbeth  and  his  wife.  Neither  suggests  it  to  the 
other ;  their  guilt  in  this  respect  is  equal. 

It  may  also  be  noted  here  that  we  have  no  right  to 
say,  as  certain  critics  have  done,  that  the  Witches  insti- 
gate Macbeth  to  the  crime.  They  simply  predict  what 
is  to  be  his  destiny.  They  suggest  no  means  or  method 
for  bringing  about  the  fulfilment  of  the  predictions ; 
they  say  not  a  word  to  incite  him  to  sinful  thought  or 
deed.  Their  prophetic  message  once  delivered  in  the 
briefest  form  possible,  they  vanish,  paying  no  attention 
to  the  entreaties  of  Macbeth  that  they  will  stay  and  tell 
him  more. 

Their  prophecies,  moreover,  are  not  addressed  to  Mac- 
beth alone,  but  also  to  Banquo,  in  whose  soul  they  ex- 
cite no  thought  or  purpose  of  evil.  He  accepts  them 
as  prophecies,  nothing  more,  and  shows  little  interest  in 
them  until  Ross  and  Angus  come  and  hail  Macbeth  as 
thane  of  Cawdor.  Then,  so  far  from  welcoming  them 
as  propitious  intimations  of  good  fortune,  he  warns  his 
companion  that  they  may  prove  to  be  due  to  the  machi- 
nations of  evil  spirits,  who 

"  tell  us  truths, 

Win  us  with  honest  trifles  to  betray  's 
In  deepest  consequence." 


Introduction  25 

To  Macbeth,  on  the  other  hand,  the  very  fact  that  the 
supernatural  soliciting  has  begun  with  a  truth  is  proof 
that  it  cannot  be  ill.  Yet,  as  his  conscience  admonishes 
him,  it  cannot  be  good,  for  it  tempts  him  to  crime  ;  and 
he  admits  that  he  is  ready  to  "  yield  "  to  that  temptation. 

Here  we  begin  to  see  what  manner  of  man  he  really 
is.  Up  to  this  time  he  has  won  golden  opinions  from 
all  sorts  of  people,  and  apparently  has  deserved  them. 
But,  like  so  many  other  men  of  excellent  reputation,  he 
has  hitherto  been  upright  only  because  his  virtue  has 
never  been  subjected  to  any  severe  test.  When  a  great 
temptation  assails  him,  he  falls  like  Lucifer,  never  to  rise 
again. 

Macbeth  is  utterly  destitute  of  moral  principle.  His 
ambition  for  the  crown  once  aroused,  he  determines  to 
murder  his  king,  who  has  just  bestowed  new  honours 
upon  him,  and  to  whom  he  is  bound  by  ties  of  kinship 
as  well  as  of  loyalty.  When  later  he  hesitates  to  commit 
the  crime  he  has  planned,  it  is  not  from  any  compunc- 
tion of  conscience,  but  from  "  sheer  moral  cowardice  " 
—  from  fear  of  the  consequences  in  this  life.  Shake- 
speare has  taken  pains  to  make  this  clear  in  Macbeth 's 
soliloquy  (i.  7)  :  — 

"  If  it  were  done  when  't  is  done,  then  't  were  well 
T  were  done  quickly"; 

that  is,  if  the  deed  were  really  done,  if  that  were  the  end 
of  it,  the  quicker  it  is  done  the  better. 


26  Macbeth 

"  If  the  assassination 

Could  trammel  up  the  consequence,  and  catch 
With  his  surcease  success;    that  but  this  blow 
Might  be  the  be-all  and  the  end-all  here, 
But  here,  upon  this  bank  and  shoal  of  time, 
We  'd  jump  the  life  to  come." 

That  is,  if  the  murder  could  thwart  or  control  the  pos- 
sible consequences  here,  only  here,  in  this  world,  he 
would  risk  whatever  might  follow  in  the  life  to  come. 
But,  as  he  goes  on  to  say,  there  is  the  danger  of  retribu- 
tion here.  Our  bloody  deeds  return  to  plague  us  here. 
The  cup  we  have  poisoned  for  another  is  thrust  to  our 
own  lips.  Those  words,  "  We'd  jump  the  life  to  come," 
show  that,  in  thinking  of  the  possible  consequences  in 
this  life,  —  the  risk  of  detection,  disgrace,  and  punish- 
ment, —  he  does  not  for  the  moment  forget  or  ignore  the 
retributions  of  another  world.  He  deliberately  defies 
them.  Like  the  men  who  were  supposed  to  sell  their 
souls  to  the  devil  for  wealth  or  power  in  this  life,  he  is 
willing  to  pay  the  final  price  that  the  crime  involves  if 
present  success  can  be  assured.  If  Satan  were  present 
to  pledge  this,  Macbeth  would  close  the  bargain  at  once  ; 
as  this  is  impossible,  he  hesitates  for  the  moment,  but 
only  for  the  moment  —  only  while  the  thought  of  possi- 
ble failure  is  uppermost  in  his  mind.  As  soon  as  his 
wife  has  explained  how  the  murder  can  be  made  to 
appear  the  act  of  the  grooms,  his  hesitation  is  at  an 
end.  How  exultantly  he  welcomes  the  assurance  that 
others  can  be  made  to  bear  the  imputation  of  the  crime  ! 


Introduction  27 

But  while  waiting  for  the  fatal  signal  which  the  Lady 
is  to  give  by  striking  the  bell,  he  gives  way  again  to 
horrible  imaginings.  The  dagger  he  is  to  use  floats 
before  his  eyes  ;  but  it  does  not  frighten  him  from  his 
purpose : — 

"  Thou  marshalls't  me  the  way  that  I  was  going, 
And  such  an  instrument  I  was  to  use." 

The  visionary  dagger  becomes  bloody,  but  the  real  one 
is  not  yet  red,  and  he  decides  that  the  former  is  nothing 
but  a  "  dagger  of  the  mind  "  to  which  the  anticipation 
of  the  bloody  business  has  given  apparent  shape.  His 
imagination  reverts  to  the  night  —  the  time  for  "  wicked 
dreams "  and  wicked  deeds  —  for  witchcraft  and  for 
Murder,  with  stealthy  pace  moving  like  a  ghost  toward 
his  fell  design.  So  will  he  move,  invoking  the  sure  and 
firm-set  earth  not  to  betray  his  approach  to  the  sleep- 
ing victim.  But  he  checks  the  poetic  musings.  It  is 
the  time  for  action.  "Whiles  I  threat  he  lives."  The 
bell  rings. 

"  I  go,  and  it  is  done;   the  bell  invites  me.  — 
Hear  it  not,  Duncan,  for  it  is  a  knell 
That  summons  thee  to  heaven  or  to  hell. 

It  is  a  knell  that  strikes  for  himself  no  less  than  for 
Duncan  ;  and  it  summons  him,  not  to  the  earthly 
heaven  of  his  hopes,  the  joy  he  anticipates  in  the 
attainment  of  royal  power,  but  to  the  hell  of  guilty 
fears  that  permit  no  sleep  by  night  and  no  peace  or 


28  Macbeth 

rest  by  day,  but  drive  him  on  from  crime  to  crime  until 
retribution  overtakes  him  at  last. 

Though,  at  this  particular  time,  Macbeth  would  not 
have  carried  out  his  plot  against  Duncan  if  the  Lady 
had  not  overcome  his  cowardly  fear  of  the  consequences, 
it  does  not  follow  that  he  would  never  have  screwed 
his  courage  up  for  the  deed  without  her  influence. 
The  vision  of  the  promised  crown,  the  glittering  prize 
of  his  unholy  ambition,  would  still  hover  above  his 
head,  stimulating  his  imagination  and  alluring  him  to 
the  nearest  way  of  gaining  it.  He  would  be  ever  on 
the  watch  for  a  favourable  opportunity  of  doing  the 
murderous  deed  necessary  for  its  acquisition,  and, 
with  or  without  the  encouragement  of  his  companion 
in  guilt,  he  would  nerve  himself  to  the  fatal  stroke  that 
would  enable  him  to  clutch  it.  The  exigencies  of  the 
drama  require  that  he  should  do  it  now,  and  the  Lady, 
with  her  clear  head  and  strong  will,  furnishes  the 
stimulus  needed  to  spur  him  on  to  instant  action. 

Let  us  now  turn  for  a  time  to  her,  and  endeavour  to 
get  a  fair  conception  of  her  character.  As  we  have 
seen,  the  intention  of  murder  occurred  to  her  without 
any  suggestion  from  her  husband.  So  far  as  that  was 
concerned,  both  were  equally  guilty.  They  were  also 
equally  ambitious  ;  but  I  believe  that  she  was  ambitious 
for  him  rather  than  for  herself.  They  are  bound  to 
each  other  by  strong  ties  of  conjugal  affection  ;  but  her 
love,  if  not  the  stronger,  is  the  more  unselfish,  as  the 
love  of  woman  is  apt  to  be. 


Introduction  29 

Mrs.  Kemble  (Notes  upon  Some  of  Shakespeare's  Plays] 
calls  Lady  Macbeth  "  a  masculine  woman,"  but  adds 
that  "  she  retains  enough  of  the  nature  of  mankind,  if 
not  of  womankind,  to  bring  her  within  the  circle  of  our 
toleration  and  make  us  accept  her  as  possible"  I  be- 
lieve, however,  that  she  goes  too  far  in  denying  to  the 
Lady  "  all  the  peculiar  sensibilities  of  her  sex,"  and  in 
saying,  "  there  is  no  doubt  that  her  assertion  that  she 
would  have  dashed  her  baby's  brains  out  if  she  had 
sworn  to  do  it,  is  no  mere  figure  of  speech  but  very 
certain  earnest."  To  my  thinking,  it  was  a  figure  of 
speech  in  a  sense,  though  "  certain  earnest "  in  another 
sense.  Macbeth  has  sworn  to  do  a  dreadful  deed  from 
which  he  now  shrinks.  She  says  to  him  that  if  she  had 
sworn  to  do  anything,  however  horrible  and  unnatural, 
she  would  do  it.  The  particular  illustration  of  the 
quality  of  her  resolution  which  she  gives  is  the  strong- 
est she  can  imagine  —  the  murder  of  her  own  babe  at 
a  time  when  to  do  it  would  be  the  utmost  conceivable 
outrage  to  maternal  affection  ;  a  deed  which  she  knows 
she  could  never  do  or  think  of  doing,  much  less  swear 
to  do,  but  which  she  would  do  if  she  had  sworn  to  do 
it.  That  would  be  a  murder  infinitely  worse  than  the 
one  Macbeth  has  sworn  to  do,  —  the  murder  of  an 
innocent  and  helpless  babe  —  her  own  babe  —  a 
murder  for  which  there  could  be  no  imaginable 
motive,  —  but  the  oath  once  spoken  should  be  kept, 
though  to  keep  it  would  tear  her  very  heart-strings 
asunder. 


30  Macbeth 

It  is  significant  that  Lady  Macbeth,  when  she 
first  resolves  to  commit  the  crime,  feels  that  she  must 
repudiate  the  instincts  of  her  sex  before  she  can  do  it : 

"  Come,  you  spirits 

That  tend  on  mortal  thoughts,  unsex  me  here, 
And  fill  me  from  the  crown  to  the  toe  top-full 
Of  direst  cruelty !  make  thick  my  blood, 
Stop  up  the  access  and  passage  to  remorse, 
That  no  compunctious  visitings  of  nature 
Shake  my  fell  purpose,  nor  keep  peace  between 
The  effect  and  it !  " 

Elsewhere  Shakespeare  has  depicted  two  women  —  the 
only  two  in  his  long  gallery  of  female  characters  —  who 
are  monsters  of  wickedness,  without  a  single  redeeming 
trait ;  and  he  has  emphasized  the  fact  that  such  women 
have  unsexed  themselves  and  ceased  to  be  women. 
They  are  Goneril  and  Regan,  the  unnatural  daughters 
of  Lear.  Note  what  Albany  says  to  Goneril :  — 

"  See  thyself,  devil ! 

Proper  [native]  deformity  seems  not  in  the  fiend 
So  horrid  as  in  woman.  .   .  . 
Thou  changed  and  self-cover'd  thing, 

[that  is,  thou  whose  natural  self  has  been  covered  or 
lost,  so  that  thou  art  a  mere  thing,  not  a  woman] 

Bemonster  not  thy  feature  !  .  .  . 

Howe'er  thou  art  a  fiend, 
A  woman's  shape  doth  shield  thee." 

[Though  a  fiend,  she  still  has  the  outward  shape  of 
woman,  or  she  should  die.] 


Introduction  31 

Neither  Goneril  nor  Regan  prays  to  be  unsexed,  for 
they  are  only  fiends  in  a  female  form ;  nor  would  the 
prayer  have  occurred  to  Lady  Macbeth  if  she  had  not 
been  a  woman,  notwithstanding  her  treason  to  woman- 
hood. She  feels  that  she  must  for  the  time  abjure  the 
natural  instincts  and  sensibilities  of  her  sex,  if  she  is  to 
do  the  bloody  deed  which  is  to  give  her  ambitious  hus- 
band the  crown  without  waiting  for  fate  to  fulfil  itself. 
She  is  not  destitute  of  all  feminine  sensibilities,  as 
Mrs.  Kemble  assumes,  but  struggles  against  them, 
represses  them  by  sheer  strength  of  will. 

Mrs.  Kemble  even  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  the 
Lady's  inability  to  stab  Duncan  because  he  resembled 
her  father  as  he  slept  "  has  nothing  especially  feminine 
about  it,"  but  is  "  a  touch  of  human  tenderness  by  which 
most  men  might  be  overcome  " ;  but  to  concede  human 
tenderness  to  the  Lady  is  inconsistent  with  the  assump- 
tion that  she  could  have  murdered  the  infant  at  her 
breast.  We  cannot  doubt  that  Shakespeare  introduced 
this  touch  to  remind  us  again  that  she  was  a  woman,  and 
not  a  monster,  like  the  daughters  of  Lear.  This  is 
quite  in  his  manner.  It  is  like  Shylock's  allusion  to 
the  ring  that  Leah  gave  him  when  he  was  a  bachelor, 
which  shows  that,  hardened  and  merciless  though  he 
was,  he  was  not  utterly  destitute  of  human  tender- 
ness. 

Professor  Moulton  (Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatic  Artisf) 
is  more  just  in  his  conception  of  Lady  Macbeth.  As 
he  remarks,  "  Her  intellectual  culture  must  have  quick- 


J2  Macbeth 

ened  her  finer  sensibilities  at  the  same  time  that  it  built 
up  a  will  strong  enough  to  hold  them  down  "  ;  and  her 
keen  delicacy  of  nature  continually  strives  to  assert 
itself.  When  she  calls  on  the  spirits  of  darkness  to 
unsex  her,  "she  is  trembling  all  over  with  repugnance 
to  the  bloody  enterprise,  which  nevertheless  her  royal 
will  insists  upon  her  undertaking."  Her  career  in  the 
play  "  is  one  long  mental  war ;  and  the  strain  ends,  as 
such  a  strain  could  only  end,  in  madness."  She  seems 
to  feel  this  herself  when  later  Macbeth  is  lamenting 
that,  though  he  had  most  need  of  blessing,  "  Amen 
stuck  in  his  throat,"  and  she  exclaims:  — 

"These  deeds  must  not  be  thought 
After  these  ways;   so,  it  will  make  us  mad." 

But  the  next  moment,  when  he  refuses  to  take  back 
the  daggers  he  has  brought  from  the  chamber  of  death, 
her  indomitable  will  enables  her  to  do  it  herself.  She 
must  not  allow  her  strength  to  give  way  while  it  is 
necessary  to  carry  out  the  plan  which  is  in  danger  of 
failing  through  his  weakness.  She  can  even  indulge 
in  a  ghastly  pun  —  the  only  one  in  the  play — as  she 
snatches  the  daggers  from  his  hand :  — 

"  If  he  does  bleed, 

I  '11  gild  the  faces  of  the  grooms  withal, 
For  it  must  seem  their  guilt" 

And  while  Macbeth  is  still  idly  staring  at  his  blood) 
hands  with  "  poetical  whining,"  as  another  aptly  calls 


Introduction  33 

it,  she  can  return,  with  hands  as  red  as   his,  and  say 
with  bitter  sneers  at  his  unmannerly  wailing  :  — 

"  My  hands  are  of  your  colour,  but  I  shame 
To  wear  a  heart  so  white.  .  .  . 
A  little  water  clears  us  of  this  deed." 

But  ah  !  the  difference  between  man  and  woman  ! 
He,  now  so  weak  that  he  cannot  look  on  the  man  he 
has  murdered,  he  who  laments  that  great  Neptune's 
ocean  cannot  wash  the  stain  from  his  hands,  goes 
on  from  crime  to  crime  until  he  himself  can  say :  — 

"  I  am  in  blood 

i 

Stepp'd  in  so  far  that,  should  I  wade  no  more, 
Returning  were  as  tedious  as  go  o'er;  " 

and  later :  — 

"I  have  supp'd  full  with  horrors; 
Direness,  familiar  to  my  slaughterous  thoughts, 
Cannot  once  start  me." 

He    revels    in  ''murder,  knowing    neither  fear  nor  re- 
morse. 

She,  on  the  other  hand,  though  now  she  can  ridicule 
his  weak  moaning  over  his  bloody  hands  and  display 
her  own  that  are  red  with  the  gore  of  the  same  murder, 
calmly  declaring  that  a  little  water  will  clear  them  of 
the  stain  —  she  has  nerved  herself  to  this  seeming 
brutality  by  force  of  will,  desperately  repressing  all 
feminine  sensibility  out  of  love  for  him  and  sympathy 
in  his  ambitious  purposes.  She  can  do  this  while  it  is 
necessary  to  strengthen  him  and  save  him  from  failure 
MACBETH  —  3 


34  Macbeth 

and  detection  ;  but  when  she  is  once  assured  that  he 
is  no  longer  dependent  on  inspiration  and  support  from 
her,  the  woman  nature  reasserts  itself.  She  is  not, 
as  he  is,  insensible  to  remorse.  She  can  silence  for 
the  time  the  voice  of  conscience,  but  it  soon  makes 
itself  heard. 

We  have  the  first  evidence  of  this  in  the  scene  (ii.  3) 
where  the  murder  is  discovered  by  the  nobles.  Mac- 
beth has  made  the  mistake  of  killing  the  grooms,  but 
when  Macduff  asks,  "  Wherefore  did  you  so  ?  "  he  gets 
out  of  the  predicament  by  ascribing  the  act  to  "  the 
expedition  of  his  violent  love,"  which  outran  the  dicta- 
tion of  his  "  reason."  Then  follows  the  hypocritically 
pathetic  description  of  the  dead  king  :  — 

"  His  silver  skin  lac'd  with  his  golden  blood, 
And  his  gash'd  stabs  [looking]  like  a  breach  in  nature 
For  ruin's  wasteful  entrance  ;  " 

and  the  supposed  assassins  :  — 

"  Steep'd  in  the  colours  of  their  trade,  their  daggers 
Unmannerly  breech'd  with  gore." 

Lady  Macbeth  sees  that  he  does  not  need  her  help  at 
this  critical  moment,  and  the  strain  upon  her  nerve  and 
will  is  at  once  relaxed.  This  sufficiently  explains  her 
fainting,  which  I  believe  to  be  real  and  not  feigned  ; 
though  the  vivid  picture  of  the  scene  of  murder  may 
have  been  in  part,  if  not  wholly,  the  cause  of  the  swoon, 
the  enormity  of  the  crime  being  thus  brought  home  to 
her  conscience.  Macbeth  may  have  thought  that  the 


Introduction  35 

fainting  was  a  trick  to  divert  attention  from  his  mistake, 
if  his  attempt  to  justify  it  should  not  be  successful,  and 
this  may  account  for  his  paying  no  attention  to  her  at 
the  moment ;  but  this  is  quite  as  likely  to  have  been 
due  to  his  excitement,  or  to  the  promptness  with  which 
Macduff  and  Banquo  "  look  to  the  lady." 

When  she  next  appears  on  the  stage  (iii.  2),  we  see 
that  the  attainment  of  the  coveted  prize  has  brought  no 
relief  from  the  remorse  she  suffers.  She  is  unhappy  in 
her  new  dignity  —  the  more  because  he  whom  her  love 
had  helped  to  gain  it  likewise  finds  no  joy  in  the  acqui- 
sition. She  laments  for  him  as  for  herself  —  more  for 
him  than  for  herself  —  when  she  says  :  —  . 

"  Nought 's  had,  all 's  spent, 
Where  our  desire  is  got  without  content ; 
'T  is  safer  to  be  that  which  we  destroy 
Than  by  destruction  dwell  in  doubtful  joy." 

This  to  herself  —  and  it  is  the  cry  of  a  broken  heart 
that  has  brought  wretchedness  upon  itself  and  the 
object  of  its  devotion  by  a  crime  to  which  it  was 
prompted  by  love ;  and  with  the  same  unselfish  affec- 
tion she  tries  in  the  very  next  breath  to  comfort  him, 
hiding  the  wound  in  her  own  breast :  — 

"  How  now,  my  lord !  why  do  you  keep  alone, 
Of  sorriest  fancies  your  companions  making, 
Using  those  thoughts  which  should  indeed  have  died 
With  them  they  think  on  ?     Things  without  all  remedy 
Should  be  without  regard;   what 's  done  is  done." 


36  Macbeth 

These  sorry  fancies,  as  we  have  just  seen,  are  her  com- 
panions no  less,  but  she  will  not  let  him  see  it. 

But  her  misery  is  that  of  a  troubled  conscience,  to- 
gether with  pity  and  sympathy  for  him.  His  is  the 
same  that  first  made  him  shrink  from  the  crime  —  no 
pangs  of  conscience,  no  touch  of  remorse,  but  cowardly 
fear  of  the  consequences  of  his  crime  :  — 

"  We  have  scotch'd  the  snake,  not  kill'd  it ; 
She  '11  close  and  be  herself,  whilst  our  poor  malice 
Remains  in  danger  of  her  former  tooth." 

It  is  not  that  he  has  committed  the  crime,  but  that  he 
must  eat  his  meals  in  fear,  and  sleep  in  the  affliction  of 
terrible  dreams  —  dreams  of  detection  and  retribution. 
"  Better  be  with  the  dead  "  than  live  in  this  "  torture  of 
the  mind !  "  Already  he  meditates  new  crimes  to  save 
himself  from  the  results  of  the  first.  "  Things  bad 
begun  make  strong  themselves  by  ill."  And  the  new 
crimes  he  can  commit  without  stimulus  or  help  from 
her. 

After  this  she  appears  in  the  drama  only  twice  :  in 
the  banquet  scene,  where  again  he  is  saved  by  her 
presence  of  mind  from  the  exposure  of  his  guilt  which 
his  distracted  imagination  threatens  to  bring  about ; 
and  in  the  scene  where  her  own  share  in  that  guilt  is 
unconsciously  disclosed  as  she  walks  in  sleep. 

After  the  banquet  is  broken  up,  instead  of  giving  way 
to  bitter  reproaches,  she  endeavours  to  sooth  his  troubled 
spirit.  As  Mrs.  Jameson  remarks,  there  is  "  a  touch  of 


Introduction  37 

pathos  and  tenderness  "  in  this  which  makes  it  "  one  of 
the  most  masterly  and  most  beautiful  traits  of  character 
in  the  play." 

Shakespeare  evidently  intended  that  Lady  Macbeth's 
complicity  in  the  guilt  of  her  husband  should  be  limited 
to  the  murder  of  Duncan.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that 
Macbeth  does  not  make  her  a  confidant  of  his  plot  for 
killing  Banquo  and  Fleance.  Indeed,  he  distinctly 
avoids  doing  this  after  having  vaguely  hinted  at  the 
design.  This  partly  because,  as  I  have  said,  he  does 
not  need  her  help,  but  partly,  I  believe,  because  he  has 
an  instinctive  feeling  that  she  would  not  approve  the 
course  he  has  resolved  upon.  She  certainly  would 
have  opposed  it  as  at  once  impolitic  and  unnecessary. 
The  Witches  had  not  predicted  that  Banquo  should  be 
king,  but  only  that  his  children  should,  and  Fleance  was 
but  a  boy  as  yet.  There  was  far  greater  danger  to  Mac- 
beth from  the  suspicions  which  the  death  of  Banquo  and 
his  son  might  excite  than  from  a  possible  attempt  of 
theirs  to  play  the  bloody  part  Macbeth  had  played  in 
the  assassination  of  Duncan.  Macbeth  himself  lays 
more  stress  on  the  prediction  that  Banquo's  issue  are  to 
be  his  successors  on  the  throne  than  he  does  on  his 
fears  that  Banquo  may  suspect  he  killed  Duncan,  and 
that  this  may  lead  to  his  own  overthrow.  Banquo's 
"  royalty  of  nature  "  is  a  perpetual  rebuke  to  his  own 
baser  self,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  prophecies  of  the 
Witches  is  a  menace,  but  the  thought  that  most  rankles 
in  the  breast  of  Macbeth  is  that  all  he  has  gained  by  the 


3  8  Macbeth 

murder  of  the  gracious  Duncan  is  a  "  fruitless  crown  " 
and  "  barren  sceptre,"  which  are  to  be  snatched  from 
him  by  "  an  unlineal  hand." 

Some  critics  have  thought  that  the  Lady  meant  to  sug- 
gest putting  Banquo  and  Fleance  out  of  the  way  when, 
in  reply  to  Macbeth's  reference  to  the  fact  that  they  are 
still  living,  she  says,  "  But  in  them  Nature's  copy  's  not 
eterne  " ;  but  she  simply  reminds  him  that  they  are  not 
immortal.  This  interpretation  is  fully  confirmed  by 
the  fact  that,  on  his  replying,  "  There  's  comfort  yet ; 
they  are  assailable,"  and  adding  that  before  the  night 
passes  "  there  shall  be  done  a  deed  of  dreadful  note," 
she  does  not  understand  his  hint,  but  asks,  "  What 's  to 
be  done  ?  "  —  a  question  which  he  evades.  It  is  plain, 
however,  that  he  still  feels  doubtful  of  her  approval  of 
the  deed,  which  he  would  not  have  been  if  he  had 
understood  her  preceding  speech  as  suggesting  it. 

For  myself,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  Lady  from  the  stage  after  the  banquet 
scene  indicates  that,  from  the  time  of  Banquo's  murder, 
Macbeth  was  less  and  less  inclined  to  seek  her  company 
and  sympathy.  In  the  conversation  before  the  banquet 
she  asks  him,  "  Why  do  you  keep  alone  ?  "  and  it  is  in 
the  same  scene  (iii.  2)  that  he  avoids  telling  her  that 
he  has  already  engaged  the  murderers  to  waylay  Banquo 
and  his  son.  Even  then  their  lives  had  begun  to  sepa- 
rate, and  they  would  naturally  get  farther  and  farther 
apart.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  she  knew  of 
the  plot  for  the  destruction  of  Macduff's  family,  against 


Introduction  39 

which  she  would  have  protested  more  earnestly  than 
against  his  designs  upon  Banquo,  :f  he  had  made  them 
known  to  her.  His  fears  and  suspicions  urge  him  on 
to  the  bloody  deeds  which  later  Macduff  describes  to 

Malcolm  :  — 

"  Each  new  morn 

New  widows  howl,  new  orphans  cry,  new  sorrows 
Strike  heaven  on  the  face." 

Ross  confirms  the  reports :  — 

"  Alas,  poor  country ! 
Almost  afraid  to  know  itself.     It  cannot 
Be  call'd  our  mother,  but  our  grave ;   where  nothing, 
But  who  knows  nothing,  is  once  seen  to  smile; 
Where  sighs  and  groans  and  shrieks  that  rend  the  air 
Are  made,  not  mark'd;  where  violent  sorrow  seems 
A  modern  ecstasy.     The  dead  man's  knell 
Is  there  scarce  ask'd  for  who;   and  good  men's  lives 
Expire  before  the  flowers  in  their  caps, 
Dying  or  ere  they  sicken." 

A  terrible  picture  of  what  Macbeth  is  doing  alone,  in 
his  insane  suspicion  of  those  about  him  and  of  every- 
body, near  or  far,  who  might  suspect  his  guilt  and  be 
moved  to  avenge  it.  After  his  second  interview  with 
the  Witches,  who  have  deluded  him  with  false  assurances 
of  safety  and  success,  he  seeks  no  other  counsel  and 
has  no  other  confidant. 

The  Lady  meanwhile,  left  to  herself,  ignorant  of  what 
is  going  on  abroad,  bears  the  burden  of  her  remorse 
alone.  Shut  out  from  all  sympathy,  she  broods  over 
the  crime  to  which  she  was  tempted  by  love  and  the 


40  Macbeth 

hope  that  it  would  bring  not  only  royal  power  but  all 
its  accompaniments  of  pleasure  and  honour,  but  the 
fruits  of  which  have  been  only  disappointment,  disgust, 
and  misery  to  her  husband  and  herself ;  and  the  con- 
sciousness of  her  sin  and  folly  is  like  a  consuming  fire 
in  her  breast.  Bereft  of  all  worldly  hope  and  all  human 
sympathy,  she  is  driven  to  despair.  The  season  of  all 
natures,  sleep,  denies  her  its  comfort  and  relief.  In 
perturbed  wanderings  at  night  she  lives  over  the  events 
of  that  other  night  when  her  hands  were  bathed  in  the 
life-blood  of  Duncan.  No  water  now  will  clear  them  of 
the  stain.  The  agonizing  cry,  "  Out,  damned  spot !  " 
is  vain ;  and  "  there's  the  smell  of  the  blood  still," 
which  all  the  perfumes  of  Arabia  cannot  remove  or  dis- 
guise. 

The  Doctor's  direction  that  the  means  of  self- 
destruction  be  removed  from  her,  and  that  she  be 
watched  closely,  indicates  his  apprehension  of  what 
the  end  may  be ;  and  though  it  is  not  distinctly  stated 
afterwards  that  she  did  lay  violent  hands  on  herself, 
we  can  hardly  doubt  that  this  was  the  manner  of  her 
death. 

When  her  death  is  announced  to  Macbeth  (v.  5),  he 
is  already  so  estranged  from  her,  and  so  absorbed  in 
his  selfish  ruminations  on  his  own  situation,  that  it 
excites  only  a  feeling  of  vexation  that  it  should  have 
occurred  just  then.  "  She  should  have  died  hereafter  " 
—  not,  he  seems  to  mean,  when  he  had  so  much  else 
to  worry  and  annoy  him.  In  his  talk  with  the  Doctor 


Introduction  41 

about  her,  in  a  former  scene  (v.  3),  he  appears  to  be 
impatient,  rather  than  sympathetic,  because  she  is  sick ; 
and  now  that  the  sickness  has  proved  fatal,  he  indulges 
in  no  expressions  of  grief,  but,  after  this  brief  reference 
to  her  ill-timed  decease,  he  relapses  into  mournful 
reflections  upon  his  own  condition  and  prospects.  He 
does  not  refer  to  her  again,  nor  is  there  any  allusion 
to  her  except  in  Malcolm's  last  speech,  where  he 
couples  her  with  Macbeth  as  "  this  dead  butcher  and 
his  fiend-like  queen."  The  son  of  the  murdered  Duncan 
might  naturally  call  her  so  ;  but,  except  for  her  share 
in  that  single  crime  she  does  nothing  to  deserve 
the  title;  and  for  that  one  crime  she  has  paid  the 
penalty  of  a  life  of  disappointment,  wretchedness,  and 
remorse. 

Let  me  say,  before  dismissing  her  from  our  con- 
sideration, that  I  cannot  think  of  her  as  a  masculine 
woman,  or,  as  Campbell  describes  her,  "  a  splendid 
picture  of  evil,  ...  a  sort  of  sister  of  Milton's  Luci- 
fer, and,  like  him,  externally  majestic  and  beautiful." 
Beautiful,  indeed,  we  can  imagine  her  to  be,  but  with 
a  beauty  delicate  and  feminine  —  perhaps,  as  Mrs.  Sid- 
dons  suggests,  even  fragile.  Shakespeare  gives  us  no 
hint  of  her  personal  appearance  except  where  he  makes 
her  speak  of  her  "little  hand";  but  that  really  settles 
the  question.1 

Macbeth 's  career  from  first  to  last  confirms  the  esti- 

1  For  a  summary  of  critical  opinion  on  the  subject,  see  the 
Appendix. 


42  Macbeth 

mate  we  form  of  him  when  he  hears  the  predictions 
of  the  Witches.  At  that  time,  as  I  have  said,  he  seems 
as  noble  as  he  was  valiant.  He  is  ambitious,  but  two 
paths  to  power  and  fame  are  open  to  him  —  the  path 
of  rectitude,  of  loyalty,  of  patriotism,  of  honour  ;  and 
the  nearer  way  of  treason,  regicide,  and  dishonour.  He 
lacks  the  moral  courage  and  strength  to  choose  the 
former.  He  cannot  wait  for  fate  to  fulfil  itself,  but 
anticipates  the  working  out  of  its  decrees  by  impatiently 
taking  the  first  step  in  the  other  path.  He  knows  it  is 
the  wrong  path,  but  it  is  only  the  first  step  that  costs 
him  even  any  transient  struggle.  Thenceforward,  as 
we  have  seen,  he  can  go  on  from  crime  to  crime  with 
only  brief  spasms  of  hesitation,  due  not  to  compunction 
or  shrinking  from  sin,  but  only  to  his  apprehensions  of 
the  possible  consequences  of  his  first  deed  of  blood  — 
discovery,  disgrace,  disaster,  retribution  in  this  life. 
The  life  to  come  he  ignores,  as  he  did  at  the  start,  and 
pursues  the  downward  course,  selfish,  pitiless,  remorse- 
less, impious,  to  the  inevitable  tragic  end. 


MACBETH 


43 


DUNCAN,  King  of  Scotland. 

BSS£,,|«~ • 

BAANQBuo,H'  !'  g^neralsof  the  king's  army. 

MACDUFF,     ~| 

LENNOX, 

MESNTEiTH,   f  n°bl<=men  of  Scotland. 

ANGUS, 

CAITHNESS,  I 

FLEANCE,  son  to  Banquo. 

SIWAKD,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  gen- 
eral of  the  English  forces. 

Young  SIWARD,  his  son. 

SEYTON,  an  officer  attending  on  Mac- 
beth. 

Boy,  son  to  Macduff. 


An  English  Doctor. 
A  Scotch  Doctor. 
A  Sergeant. 
A  Porter 
An  Old  Man. 
LADY  MACBETH. 
LADY  MACDUFF. 

Gentlewoman  attending  on  Lady  Mac- 
beth. 
HECATE. 
Three  Witches. 
Apparitions. 

Lords,  Gentlemen,  Officers,  Soldiers, 
Murderers,  Attendants,  and  Mes- 
sengers. 

SCENE:    Scotland ;  England. 


44 


VIEW  FROM  SITE  OF  MACBETH'S  CASTLE,  INVERNESS 


ACT  I 


SCENE  I.     A  Desert  Place 


Thunder  and  lightning.     Enter  three  \Vitches 

First  Witch.    When  shall  we  threelmeet  atain 
In  thunder,  lightning,  or  in  rain  ? 

Second  Witch.    When  the  hurly-burly  's  done, 
When  the  battle  's  lost  and  won. 

Third  Witch.    That  will  be  ere  the  set  of  sun. 

First  Witch.   Where  the  place  ? 

Second  Witch.  Upon  the  heath. 

Third  Witch.    There  to  meet  with  Macbeth. 
45 


46  Macbeth  [Act  J 

First  Witch.    I  come,  Graymalkin  ! 
Second  Witch.    Paddock  calls. 

Third  Witch.    Anon.  I0 

^A$.    Fair  is  fpul.jmd  fojuysffair^/. 
Hover  Ithrough'the  fog/and  filthy  air/  [Exeunt. 

I  I 


SCENE  II.     ^4  C##z/  near  Forres 


Alarum  within.  Enter  DUNCAN,  MALCOLM,  DONAL- 
BAIN,  LENNOX,  with  Attendants,  meeting  a  bleeding 
Sergeant 

Duncan.   What  bloody  man  is  that  ?     He  can  report, 
As  seemeth  by  his  plight,  of  the  revolt 
The  newest  state. 

Afalcjilm^      -/   ^Thjaj&thejwjrgeaat  . 
Whojiki,a  g^d.and  har(W  soldier  fought 
'Gainst  m4  captivity.  —  Hail,  braVe  friend! 
Say  to  the  king  the  knowledge  of  the  broil 
As  thou  didst  leave  it. 

\§ergeant.  I     /,    Dcbb^tfuHt^ptopdy 

As  twq  spent  swimmers  than  do  clingi  togemer  t 
And  choke  their  art.     The  merciless  Macdonwald  — 
Worthy  to  be  a  rebel,  for  to  that  10 

The  multiplying  villanies  of  nature 
Do  swarm  upon  him  —  from  the  western  isles 
Of  kerns  and  gallowglasses  is  supplied  ; 
And  Fortune,  on  his  damned  quarrel  smiling, 
Show'd  like  a  rebel's  whore.     But  all  's  too  weak  ; 


Scene  II]  Macbeth  47 

For  brave  Macbeth  —  well  he  deserves  that  name  — 

Disdaining  Fortune,  with  his  brandish'd  steel, 

Which  smok'd  with  bloody  execution, 

Like  valour's  minion  carved  out  his  passage 

Till  he  fac'd  the  slave  ; 

Which  ne'er  shook  hands  nor  bade  farewell  to  him, 

Till  he  unseam'd  him  from  the  nave  to  the  chaps 

And  fix'd  his  head  upon  our  battlements. 

Duncan.    O  valiant  cousin  !  worthy  gentleman  ! 
Sergeant.    As  whence  the  sun  gins  his  reflection 
Shipwracking  storms  and  direful  thunders  break, 
So  from  that  spring  whence  comfort  seem'd  to  come 
Discomfort  swells.     Mark,  king  of  Scotland,  mark : 
No  sooner  justice  had  with  valour  arm'd 
CompelPd  these  skipping  kerns  to  trust  their  heels,     30 
But  the  Norweyan  lord,  surveying  vantage, 
With  furbish'd  arms  and  new  supplies  of  men 
Began  a  fresh  assault. 

Duncan.  Dismay'd  not  this 

Our  captains,  Macbeth  and  Banquo  ? 

,  ;•  Sergeant.  Yes  ; 

^As  sparrows  eagles,  or  the  hare  the  lion. 
If  I  say  sooth,  I  must  report  they  were 
As  cannons  overcharg'd  with  double  cracks, 
So  they  doubly  redoubled  strokes  upon  the  foe. 
Except  they  meant  to  bathe  in  reeking  wounds, 
Or  memorize  another  Golgotha,  -P 

I  cannot  tell  — 
But  I  am  faint,  my  gashes  cry  for  help. 


48  Macbeth  [Act  I 

Duncan.    So   well   thy   words   become  thee    as    thy 

wounds ; 

They  smack  of  honour  both.  — Go  get  him  surgeons. — 

\_Exit  Sergeant,  attended 

Who  comes  here  ? 

Enter  Ross 

Malcolm.  The  worthy  thane  of  Ross. 

Lennox.    What  a  haste  looks  through  his  eyes !     Sc 

should  he  look 
That  seems  to  speak  things  strange. 

Ross.  God  save  the  king  > 

Duncan.    Whence  cam'st  thou,  worthy  thane  ? 

Ross.  From  Fife,  great  king, 

Where  the  Norweyan  banners  flout  the  sky 
And  fan  our  people  cold.     Norway  himself,  50 

With  terrible  numbers, 
Assisted  by  that  most  disloyal  traitor, 
The  thane  of  Cawdor,  began  a  dismal  conflict, 
Till  that  Bellona's  bridegroom,  lapp'd  in  proof, 
Confronted  him  with  self-comparisons, 
Point  against  point  rebellious,  arm  'gainst  arm, 
Curbing  his  lavish  spirit ;  and,  to  conclude, 
The  victory  fell  on  us. 

Duncan.  Great  happiness  ! 

Ross.  That  now 

Sweno,  the  Norways'  king,  craves  composition  ; 
Nor  would  we  deign  him  burial  of  his  men  60 

Till  he  disbursed  at  Saint  Colme's  Inch 
Ten  thousand  dollars  to  our  general  use. 


Scene  Hi]  Macbeth 


49 


Duncan.    No  more  that  thane  of  Cawdor  shall  deceive 
Our  bosom  interest.     Go  pronounce  his  present  death, 
And  with  his  former  title  greet  Macbeth. 
Ross.    I  '11  see  it  done. 
Duncan.    What  he  hath  lost  noble  Macbeth  hath  won. 

\Exeu. 

SCENE  III.     A  Heath 
Thunder.     Enter  the  three  Witches 

First  Witch.   Where  hast  thou  been,  sister  ? 

Second  Witch.    Killing  swine. 

Third  Witch.    Sister,  where  thou  ? 

First  Witch.    A  sailor's  wife  had  chestnuts  in  her  la 
And  munch'd,  and  munch 'd,  and  munch'd.    'Give  m 

quoth  I. 

'  Aroint  thee,  witch  !  '  the  rump-fed  ronyon  cries. 
Her  husband  's  to  Aleppo  gone,  master  o'  the  Tiger ; 
But  irt  a  sieve  I  '11  thithef^aail, 
And,  like  a  rat  without  a  tall, 
I  '11  do,  I  '11  do,  and  I  '11  do. 

Second  Witch.    I  '11  give  thee  a  wind. 

First  Witch.    Thou  'rt  kind. 

Third  Witch.    And  I  another. 

First  Witch.  'I  myself  have  all  the  other, 
And  the  very  ports  they  blow, 
All  the  quarters  that  they  know 
I'  the  shipman's  card. 
I  '11  drain  him  dry  as  hay ; 
Sleep  shall  neither  night  nor  day 

MACBETH  —  4 


3n. 

tr 


50  Macbeth  [Act  l 

Hang  upon  his  pent-house  lid.  2-» 

He  shall  live  a  man  forbid ; 

Weary  se'nnights  nine  times  nine 

Shall  he  dwindle,  peak,  and  pine. 

Though  his  bark  cannot  be  lost, 

Yet  it  shall  be  tempest-tost. 

Look  what  I  have. 

Second  Witch.    Show  me,  show  me. 

First  Witch.    Here  I  have  a  pilot's  thumb, 
Wrack'd  as  homeward  he  did  come.          [Drum  within 

Third  Witch.    A  drum,  a  drum  1  3-* 

Macbeth  doth  come. 

All.    The  weird  sisters,  hand  in  hand, 
Posters  of  the  sea  and  land, 
Thus  do  go  about,  about ; 
Thrice  to  thine,  and  thrice  to  mine, 
And  thrice  again,  to  make  up  nine. 
Peace  !  the  charm  's  wound  up. 

Enter  MACBETH  and  BANQUO 

Macbeth.    So  foul  and  fair  a  day  I  have  not  seen. 

Banquo.    How  far  is  't  call'd  to  Forres  ?     What  are 

these 

So  wither'd  and  so  wild  in  their  attire,  40 

That  look  not  like  the  inhabitants  o'  the  earth, 
And  yet  are  on  't  ?  —  Live  you  ?  or  are  you  aught 
That  man  may  question  ?    You  seem  to  understand  me, 
By  each  at  once  her  choppy  finger  laying 
Upon  her  skinny  lips.     You  should  be  women, 


Scene  III]  Macbeth 

\  I  I 

And  yet  your  beardk  forbid] me  td  interpret 

•  r-u 

That  you  are  so. 

Macbeth.  Speak,  if  you  can  ;  what  are  you  ? 

First  Witch.    All  hail,  Macbeth  !  hail  to  thee,  thane 
of  Glamis  ! 

Second  Witch.    All  hail,  Macbeth  !  hail  to  thee,  thane 
of  Cawdor ! 

Third  Witch.    All  hail,  Macbeth,  that  shalt  be  king 
hereafter !  5<J 

Banquo.    Good  sir,  why  do  you  start,  and  seem  to 

fear 

Things  that  do  sound  so  fair  ?  —  I'  the  name  of  truth, 
Are  ye  fantastical,  or  that  indeed 
Which  outwardly  ye  show  ?    My  noble  partner 
You  greet  with  present  grace  and  great  prediction 
Of  noble  having  and  of  royal  hope, 
That  he  seems  rapt  withal ;  to  me  you  speak  not. 
£f  you  can  look  into  the  seeds  of  time, 
And  say  which  grain  will  grow  and  which  will  not, 
Speak  then  to  me,  who  neither  beg  nor  fear  60 

Your  favours  nor  your  hate. 

First  Witch.    Hail! 

Second  Witch.    Hail ! 

Third  Witch.    Hail ! 

First  Witch.   Lesser  than  Macbeth,  and  greater. 

Second  Witch.    Not  so  happy,  yet  much  happier. 

Third  Witch.    Thou  shalt  get  kings,  though  thou  be 

none  '. 
So  all  hail,  Macbeth  and  Banquo  1 


52  Macbeth  [Act  I 

First  Witch.   Banquo  and  Macbeth,  all  hail ! 

Macbeth.   Stay,  you  imperfect  speakers,  tell  me  more. 
By  Sinel's  death  I  know  I  am  thane  of  Glamis,  71 

But  how  of  Cawdor  ?     The  thane  of  Cawdor  lives, 
A  prosperous  gentleman  ;  and  to  be  king 
Stands  not  within  the  prospect  of  belief, 
No  more  than  to  be  Cawdor.     Say  from  whence 
You  owe  this  strange  intelligence  ?  or  why 
Upon  this  blasted  heath  you  stop  our  way 
With  such  prophetic  greeting?     Speak,  I  charge  you, 

[  Witches  vanish. 

Banquo.    The  earth  hath  bubbles  as  the  water  has, 
And  these  are  of  them.     Whither  are  they  vanish'd  ?  So 

Macbeth.    Into   the   air,  and   what   seem'd    corporal 

melted 
As  breath  into  the  wind.     Would  they  had  stay'd ! 

Banquo.    Were  such  things  here  as  we  do  speak  about  ? 
Or  have  we  eaten  on  the  insane  root 
That  takes  the  reason  prisoner  ? 

Macbeth.    Your  children  shall  be  kings. 

Banquo.  You  shall  be  king. 

Macbeth.    And  thane  of  Cawdor  too  ;  went  it  not  so  ? 

Banquo.   To  the  selfsame  tune  and  words.  —  WTho  's 
here  ? 

Enter  Ross  and  ANGUS 

Ross.    The  king  hath  happily  receiv'd,  Macbeth, 
The  news  of  thy  success  ;  and  when  he  reads  90 

Thy  personal  venture  in  the  rebels'  fight, 


Scene  III]  Macbeth 


53 


His  wonders  and  his  praises  do  contend 
Which  should  be  thine  or  his.     Silenc'd  with  that, 
In  viewing  o'er  the  rest  o'  the  selfsame  day, 
He  finds  thee  in  the  stout  Norweyan  ranks, 
Nothing  afeard  of  what  thyself  didst  make, 
Strange  images  of  death.     As  thick  as  tale 
Came  post  with  post,  and  every  one  did  bear 
Thy  praises  in  his  kingdom's  great  defence, 
And  pour'd  them  down  before  him. 

Angus.  We  are  sent      100 

To  give  thee  from  our  royal  master  thanks  ; 
Only  to  herald  thee  into  his  sight, 
Not  pay  thee. 

ftoss.    And  for  an  earnest  of  a  greater  honour, 
He  bade  me,  from  him,  call  thee  thane  of  Cawdor ; 
In  which  addition,  hail,  most  worthy  thane  ! 
For  it  is  thine. 

Banquo.  What,  can  the  devil  speak  true  ? 

Macbeth.    The  thane  of  Cawdor  lives;  why  do  you 

dress  me 
In  borrow 'd  robes  ? 

Angus.  Who  was  the  thane  lives  yet, 

But  under  heavy  judgment  bears  that  life  no 

Which  he  deserves  to  lose.     Whether  he  was  combin'd 
With  those  of  Norway,  or  did  line  the  rebel 
With  hidden  help  and  vantage,  or  that  with  both 
He  labour'd  in  his  country's  wrack,  I  know  not ; 
But  treasons  capital,  confess'd  and  prov'd, 
Have  overthrown  him. 


54  Macbeth  [Act  I 

Macbeth.  \Aside\  Glamis,  and  thane  of  Cawdor  ! 

The  greatest  is  behind.  —  Thanks  for  your  pains.  — 
Do  you  not  hope  your  children  shall  be  kings, 
When  those  that  gave  the  thane  of  Cawdor  to  me 
Promis'd  no  less  to  them  ? 

Banquo.  That  trusted  home  120 

Might  yet  enkindle  you  unto  the  crown, 
Besides  the  thane  of  Cawdor.     But  't  is  strange ; 
And  oftentimes,  to  win  us  to  our  harm,. 
The  instruments  of  darkness  tell  us  truths, 
Win  us  with  honest  trifles,  to  betray  's 
In  deepest  consequence.  — 
Cousins,  a  word,  I  pray  you. 

Jffacbeth.  [Aside]  Two  truths  are  told, 

As  happy  prologues  to  the  swelling  act 
i  i  Of  the  imperial  theme.  —  I  thank  you,  gentlemen.  — 
\Aside\  This  supernatural  soliciting  130 

Cannot  be  ill,  cannot  be  good.     If  ill, 
Why  hath  it  given  me  earnest  of  success, 
Commencing  in  a  truth  ?     I  am  thane  of  Cawdor. 
If  good,  why  do  I  yield  to  that  suggestion 
Whose  horrid  image  doth  unfix  my  hair 
And  make  my  seated  heart  knock  at  my  ribs, 
Against  the  use  of  nature  ?     Present  fears 
Are  less  than  horrible  imaginings. 
My  thought,  whose  murther  yet  is  but  fantastic? 
Shakes  so  my  single  state  of  man  that  function  /       140 
Is  smother'd  in  surmise,  and  nothing  is 
But  what  is  not. 


Scene  IV]  Macbeth  £5 

Banquo.  Look  how  our  partner  's  rapt. 

Macbeth.    [Aside]  If  chance  will  have  me  king,  why, 

chance  may  crown  me 
Without  my  stir. 

Banquo.  New  honours  come  upon  him, 

Like  our  strange  garments,  cleave  not  to  their  mould 
But  with  the  aid  of  use. 

Macbeth.  [Aside]  Come  what  come  may, 

Time  and  the  hour  runs  through  the  roughest  day. 

Bang KO.    Worthy  Macbeth,  we  stay  upon  your  leisure. 

Macbeth.    Give  me  your  favour ;  my  dull  brain  was 

wrought 

vVith  things  forgotten.     Kind  gentlemen,  your  pains  150 
Are  register'd  where  every  day  I  turn 
The  leaf  to  read  them.     Let  us  toward  the  king.  — 
Think  upon  what  hath  chanc'd,  and  at  more  time, 
The  interim  having  weigh'd  it,  let  us  speak 
Our  free  hearts  each  to  other. 

Banquo.  Very  gladly. 

Macbeth.   Till  then,  enough.  —  Come,  friend/, 

\Exeunt. 

SCENE  IV.     Forres.     The  P0fac& 

Flourish.     Enter  DUNCAN,  MALCOLM,  J/ONALBAIN, 
LENNOX,  and  Attendant 

Duncan.    Is  execution  done  on  Cawd/r  ?     Are  not 
Those  in  commission  yet  return 'd  ? 

Malcolm.  Afy  liege' 

They  are  not  yet  come  back.     But  lAiave  spoke 


Macbeth 


[Act  I 


With  one  that' saw  him  die,  whoVlid  report 
That  very.'frankly  he  confess'd  hiV treasons, 
Implor/d  your  highness'  pardon,  and  set  forth 
A  deep  repentance.     Nothing  in  his  life 

fcame  him  like  the  leaving  it;  he  dit 
/As  one  that  had  been  studied  in  his  dea\h 
To  throw  away  the  dearest  thing  he  owec 
As  't  were  a  careless  trifle. 

Duncan.  There  's  no  art, 

To  find  the  mind's  construction  in  the  face ; 
He  was  a  gentleman  on  whom  I  built 
An  absolute  trust.  — 


Enter  MACBETH,  BANQUO,  Ross,  and  ANGUS 

O  worthiest  cousin 
The  sin  of  my  ingratitude  even  now 
Was  heavy  on  me  ;  thou  art  so  far  before 
That  swiftest  wing  of  recompense  is  slow 
To  overtake  thee.     Would  thou  hadst  less  deserv'd, 
That  the  proportion  both  of  thanks  and  payment 
Might  have  been  mine  !  only  I  have  left  to  say,  2 

More  is  thy  due  than  more  than,  all  can  pay. 

Macbeth.    The  service  and  the  loyalty  I  owe, 
In  doing  it,  pays  itself.     Yojir  highness'  part 
Is  to  receive  our  duties ;  and  our  duties 
Are  to  your  throne  and  state  children  and  servants, 
Which  do  but  what  they  should,  by  doing  every  thing 
Safe  toward  your  love  and  honour. 

Duncan.  Welcome  hither ; 


Scene  IVJ  Macbeth 


57 


I  have  begun  to  plant  thee,  and  will  labour 

To  make  thee  full  of  growing.  —  Noble  Banquo, 

That  hast  no  less  deserv'd,  nor  must  be  known  30 

No  less  to  have  done  so,  let  me  infold  thee 

And  hold  thee  to  my  heart. 

Banquo.  There  if  I  grow, 

The  harvest  is  your  own. 

Duncan.  My  plenteous  joys, 

Wanton  in  fulness,  seek  to  hide  themselves 
In  drops  of  sorrow.  —  Sons,  kinsmen,  thanes, 
And  you  whose  places  are  the  nearest,  know 
We  will  establish  our  estate  upon 
Our  eldest,  Malcolm,  whom  we  name  hereafter 
The  Prince  of  Cumberland  ;  which  honour  must 
Not  unaccompanied  invest  him  only,  40 

But  signs  of  nobleness,  like  stars,  shall  shine 
On  all  deservers.  —  From  hence  to  Inverness, 
And  bind  us  further  to  you. 

Macbeth.    The  rest  is  labour,  which  is  not  us'd  for 

you. 

I  '11  be  myself  the  harbinger  and  make  joyful 
The  hearing  of  my  wife  with  your  approach, 
So  humbly  take  my  leave. 

Duncan,/  My  worthy  Cawdor  ! 

i,  [Aside]  The  Prince  of  Cumberland !  that  is 


M  which  I  must  fall  down,  or  else  o'erleap, 
f  For  in  my  way  it  lies.     Stars,  hide  your  fires  !  5° 

I  Let  not  light  see  my  black  and  deep  desires ; 


58  Macbeth  [Act  I 

The  eye  wink  at  the  hand  ;  yet  let  that  be       . 
Which  the  eye  fears,  when  it  is  done,  tose^/       [Exit. 
Duncan.    True,  worthy  Banquo :  he  isnm  so  valiant, 
And  in  his  commendations  I  am  fed  ; 
It  is  a  banquet  to  me.     Let  's  after  him, 
Whose  care  is  gone  before  to  bid  us  welcome ; 
It  is  a  peerless  kinsman.  \Flourish.     Exeunt.  . 

(7 

SCENE  V.     Inverness.     A  Room  in  Macbeth'1  s  Castle 
Enter  LADY  MACBETH,  reading  a.  letter 

Lady  Macbeth  [Reads].  They  met  me  in  the  day 
of  success  ;  and  I  have  learned  by  the  perfectcst  report, 
they  have  more  in  them  than  mortal  knowledge.  When 
I  burned  in  desire  to  question  them  further,  they  made 
themselves  air,  into  which  they  vanished.  Whiles  I 
stood  rapt  in  the  wonder  of  it,  came  missives  from  the 
king,  who  all-hailed  me  'Thane  of  Caw  dor ';  by  which 
title,  before,  these  weird  sisters  saluted  me,  and  referred 
me  to  the  coming  on  of  time,  with  '  Hail,  king  that 
shalt  be!11  This  have  I  thought  good  to  deliver  thce,  10 
my  dearest  partner  of  greatness,  that  thou  mightst  not 
lose  the  dues  of  rejoicing,  by  being  ignorant  of  what 
greatness  is  promised  thee.  Lay  it  to  thy  heart,  and 
farewell. 

Glamis  thou  art,  and  Cawdor,  and  shalt  be 
What  thou  art  prom  is 'd.     Yet  do  I  fear  thy  nature  ; 
It  is  too  full  o'  the  milk  of  human  kindness 
To  catch  the  nearest  way.     Thou  wouldst  be  great, 


Scene  V]  Macbeth 


59 


Art  not  without  ambition,  but  without 
The  illness  should  attend  it.     What  thou  wouldst  highly, 
That  wouldst  thou  holily,  wouldst  not  play  false,          21 
And  yet  wouldst  wrongly  win.     Thou  'dst  have,  great 

Glamis, 

That  which  cries,  '  Thus  thou  must  do,  if  thou  have  it,' 
And  that  which  rather  thou  dost  fear  to  do 
Than  wishest  should  be  undone.     Hie  thee  hither, 
That  I  may  pour  my  spirits  in  thine  ear, 
And  chastise  with  the  valour  of  my  tongue 
All  that  impedes  thee  from  the  golden  round 
Which  fate  and  metaphysical  aid  doth  seem 
To  have  thee  crown 'd  withal. — 

Enter  a  Messenger 

What  is  your  tidings?  30 
Messenger.    The  king  comes  here  to-night. 
Lady  Macbeth.  Thou  'rt  mad  to  say  it. 

Is  not  thy,m  asterjtfkh  him?  who,  were't  so, 
WonTcl  hav*  inform 'd  for  preparation.! 

Messenger.    So   please   you,  it  us  true;  our  thane  is 

coming. 

One  of  my  fellows  had  the  speed  of  him, 
Who,  almost  dead  for  breath,  had  scarcely  more 
Than  would  make  up  his  message. 

Lady  Macbeth.  Give  him  tending ; 

He  brings  great  news.  -  {Exit  Messenger. 

The  raven  himself  is  hoarse 
That  croaks  the  fatal  entrance  of  Duncan 


60  Macbeth  [Act  I 

Under  my  battlements.     Come,  you  spirits  40 

That  tend  on  mortal  thoughts,  unsex  me  here, 

And  fill  me  from  the  crown  to  the  toe  top-full 

Of  direst  cruelty  !  make  thick  my  blood  ; 

Stop  up  the  access  and  passage  to  remorse, 

That  no  compunctious  visitings  of  nature 

Shake  my  fell  purpose,  nor  keep  peace  between 

The  effect  and  it !     Come  to  my  woman's  breasts, 

And  take  my  milk  for  gall,  you  murthering  ministers, 

Wherever  in  your  sightless  substances 

You  wait  on  nature's  mischief  !     Come,  thick  night,     50 

And  pall  thee  in  the  dunnest  smoke  of  hell, 

That  my  keen  knife  see  not  the  wound  it  makes, 

Nor  heaven  peep  through  the  blanket  of  the  dark 

To  cry  '  Hold,  hold  !'  — 

Enter  MACBETH 

Great  Glamis  !  worthy  Cawdor  ! 
Greater  than  both,  by  the  all-hail  hereafter ! 

Thy  letters  have  transported  mebeyond 

l/-»      t/ v   •*•  I   \j    «-.  >*•*!*•••*• 
Tnis  ignorant  prasent,  and  1 1  fuel  now 

The  future  in  the! instant.  ' 

Macbeth.  My  dearest  love, 

Duncan  comes  here  to-night. 

Lady  Macbeth.  And  when  goes  hence  ? 

Macbeth.    To-morrow,  as  he  purposes. 

Lady  Macbeth.  O,  never     60 

Shall  sun  that  morrow  see  ! 
Your  face,  my  thane,  is  as  a  book  where  men 


Scene  vi]  Macbeth  6 1 

May  read  strange  matters.     To  beguile  the  time, 
Look  like  the  time  ;  bear  welcome  in  your  eye, 
Your  hand,  your  tongue ;   look  like  the  innocent  flower, 
But  be  the  serpent  under 't.     He  that's  coming 
Must  be  provided  for  ;  and  you  shall  put 
This  night's  great  business  into  my  dispatch, 
Which  shall  to  all  our  nights  and  days  to  come 
Give  solely  sovereign  sway  and  masterdom.  70 

Macbeth.   We  will  speak  further. 

Lady  Macbeth.  Only  look  up  clear; 

To  alter  favour  ever  is  to  fear. 
Leave  all  the  rest  to  me.  [Exeunt. 

SCENE  VI.     Before  Macbetfts  Castle 

Hautboys  and  torches.  Enter  DUNCAN,  MALCOLM, 
DONALBAIN,  BANQUO,  LENNOX,  MACDUFF,  Ross, 
ANGUS,  and  Attendants 

Duncan.    This  castle  hath  a  pleasant  seat ;  the  air 
Nimbly  and  sweetly  recommends  itself 
Unto  our  gentle  senses. 

Banquo.  This  guest  of  summer, 

The  temple-haunting  martlet,  does  approve 
By  his  lov'd  mansionry  that  the  heaven's  breath 
Smells  wooingly  here  ;  no  jutty,  frieze, 
Buttress,  nor  coign  of  vantage,  but  this  bird 
Hath  made  his  pendent  bed  and  procreant  cradle. 
Where  they  most  breed  and  haunt,  I  have  observ'd 
The  air  is  delicate. 


62  'Macbeth  [Act  I 

Enter  LADY  MACBETH 

Duncan.  See,  see,  our  honour'd  hostess  !     10 

The  love  that  follows  us  sometime  is^our  trouble, 
Which  still  we  thank  as  love.     Herein  I  teach  you 
How  you  shall  bid  God  'ield  us  for  your  pains 
And  thank  us  for  your  trouble. 

Lady  Macbeth.  All  our  service 

In  every  point  twice  done  and  then  done  double 
Were  poor  and  single  business,  to  contend 
Against  those  honours  deep  and  broad  wherewith 
Your  majesty  loads  our  house  ;  for  those  of  old, 
And  the  late  dignities  heap'd  up  to  them, 
We  rest  your  hermits. 

Duncan.  Where  's  the  thane  of  Cawdor  ?  20 

We  cours'd  him  at  the  heels  and  had  a  purpose 
To  be  his  purveyor  ;  but  he  rides  well, 
And  his  great  love,  sharp  as  his  spur,  hath  holp  him 
To  his  home  before  us.     Fair  and  noble  hostess, 
We  are  your  guest  to-night. 

Lady  Macbeth,  Your  servants  ever 

Have    theirs,    themselves,    and    what    is    theirs,    in 

compt, 

To  make  their  audit  at  your  highness'  pleasure, 
Still  to  return  you  own. 

Duncan.  Give  me  your  hand  ; 

Conduct  me  to  mine  host.     We  love  him  highly, 
And  shall  continue  our  graces  towards  him.  30 

By  your  leave,  hostess.  \Excun, 


Scene  VII]  Macbeth 


SCENE  VII.     Macbeth' s  Castle 

Hautboys  and  torches.  Enter  a  Sewer,  and  divers  Ser- 
vants with  dishes  and  service,  and  pass  over  the  stage. 
Then  enter \MACBETH 

MacbetJ/  If  it  were  done  when  't  is  done,  then  't  were 

well 

It  were  done  quickly  :  if  the  assassination 
Could  trammel  up  the  consequence,  and  catch 
With  his  surcease  success  ;  that  but  this  blow 
Might  be  the  be-all  and  the  end-all  here, 
But  here,  upon  this  bank  and  shoal  of  time, 
We  'd  jump  the  life  to  come.     But  in  these  cases 
We  still  have  judgment  here  ;  that  we  but  teach 
Bloody  instructions,  wh$£n\being  taught  return 
To  plague  the  inventor^.)  TmS  even-handed  justice     10 
Commends  the  ingredients  of  our  poison'd  chalice 
To  our  own  lips.     He  '*Jjer-e.  in  double  trust : 
First,  as  I  am  his  kinsmVh  ami  his  subject, 
Strong  both  against  the  *!eed  ;  then,  as  his  host, 
Who  should  against  hja^urtherer  shut  the  door, 
Not  bear  the  knife  my§el£>    Besides,  this  Duncan 
Hath  borne  his  facuteie»«so  meek,  hath  been 
So  clear  in  his  great  officeWhat  his  virtues 
Will  plead  like  angel^njmpet-tongu'd  against 
The  deep  damnationi^of^isZfcaking-off  ;  20 

And  pity,  like  a  naked  new-born  babe, 
Striding  the  blast,  or  heaven's  cherubin,  hors'd 


64  Macbeth  [Act  I 

Upon  the  sightless  couriers  of  the  air, 

Shall  blow  the  horrid  deed  in  every  eye, 

That  tears  shall  drown  the  wind.     I  have  no  spur 

To  prick  the  sides  of  my  intent,  but  only 

Vaulting  ambition,  which  o'erleaps  itself^ 

And  falls  on  the  other.  — 

Enter  LADY  MACBETH 

How  now  !  what  news  ? 

Lady  Macbeth.    He  has  almost  supp'd;  why  have  you 
left  the  chamber  ? 

Macbeth.    Hath  he  ask'd  for  me  ? 

Lady  Macbeth.  Know  you  not  he  has  ?     30 

Macbeth.    We  will  proceed  no  further  in  this  business.- 
He  hath  honour'd  me  of  late  ;  and  I  have  bought 
Golden  opinions  from  all  sorts  of  people, 
Which  would  be  worn  now  in  their  newest  gloss, 
Not  cast  aside  so  soon. 

Lady  Macbeth.  Was  the  hope  drunk 

Wherein  you  dress'd  yourself  ?  hath  it  slept  since  ? 
And  wakes  it  now,  to  look  so  green  and  pale 
At  what  it  did  so  freely  ?     From  this  time 
Such  I  account  thy  love.     Art  thou  afeard 
To  be  the  same  in  thine  own  act  and  valour  4o 

As  thou  art  in  desire  ?     Wouldst  thou  have  that 
Which  thou  esteem'st  the  ornament  of  life, 
And  live  a  coward  in  thine  own  esteem. 
Letting  '  I  dare  not '  wait  upon  '  I  would,' 
Like  the  poor  cat  i'  the  adage  ? 


Scene  VII]  Macbeth  65 

Macbeth.  Prithee,  peace ! 

I  dare  do  all  that  may  become  a  man  ; 
Who  dares  do  more  is  none. 

Lady  Macbeth.  What  beast  was  't  then 

That  made  you  break  this  enterprise  to  me  ? 
When  you  durst  do  it,  then  you  were  a  man ; 
And,  to  be  more  t|ian  what  you  were,  you  would          50 
Be  so  much  more  the  man.     Nor  time  nor  place 
Did  then  adhere,  and  yet  you  would  make  both ; 
They  have  made  themselves,  and  that  their  fitness  now 
Does  unmake  you.     I  have  given  suck,  and  know 
How  tender  't  is  to  love  the  babe  that  milks  me. 
I  would,  while  it  was  smiling  in  my  face, 
Have  pluck'd  my  nipple  from  his  boneless  gums 
And  dash'd  the  brains  out,  had  I  so  sworn  as  you 
Have  done  to  this. 

Macbeth.  If  we  should  fail  ? 

Lady  Macbeth.  We  fail. 

But  screw  your  courage  to  the  sticking-place,  60 

And  we  '11  not  fail.     When  Duncan  is  asleep  — 
Whereto  the  rather  shall  his  day's  hard  journey 
Soundly  invite  him  —  his  two  chamberlains 
Will  I  with  wine  and  wassail  so  convince 
That  memory,  the  warder  of  the  brain, 
Shall  be  a  fume,  and  the  receipt  of  reason 
A  limbeck  only.     When  in  swinish  sleep 
Their  drenched  natures  lie  as  in  a  death, 
What  cannot  you  and  I  perform  upon 
The  unguarded  Duncan  ?  what  not  put  upon  7° 

MACBETH  —  5 


66 


Macbeth 


[Act.  I 


His  spongy  officers,  who  shall  bear  the  guilt 
Of  our  great  quell  ? 

Macbeth.  Bring  forth  men-children  only  ; 

For  thy  undaunted  mettle  should  compose 
Nothing  but  males.     Will  it  not  be  receiv'd, 
When  we  have  mark'd  with  blood  those  sleepy  two 
Of  his  own  chamber  and  us'd  their  very  daggers, 
That  they  have  done  't  ? 

Lady  Macbeth.  Who  dares  receive  it  other, 

As  we  shall  make  our  griefs  and  clamour  roar 
Upon  his  death  ? 

Macbeth.  I  am  settled,  ami  bend  lip 

Each  corporal  agent  to  this  terrib  e  f^at.  Jo 

Away,  and  mock  the  time  ..with  Ja  rest  show  ; 


11 
what  the  fal  >e  heart  doth  know. 


ACT   II 


SCENE  I.     Court  of  Macbeth 's  Castle 

'nter  BANQUO,  and  FLEANCE  bearing  a  torch  before  him 

Banquo.    How  goes  the  night,  boy  ? 

Fkance.    The  moon  is  down,  I  have  not  heard  the 

clock. 

Banquo.    And  she  goes  down  at  twelve. 
Fleance.  I  take  't,  't  is  later,  sir. 

Banquo.    Hold,  take  my  sword.  —  There  's  husbandry 

in  heaven  ; 

Their  candles  are  all  out.  —  Take  thee  that  too.  — 
A  heavy  summons  lies  like  lead  upon  me, 
And  yet  I  would  not  sleep.     Merciful  powers, 

67 


68  Macbeth  [Act  n 

Restrain  in  me  the  cursed  thoughts  that  nature 
Gives  way  to  in  repose  !  — 

Enter  MACBETH,  and  a  Servant  with  a  torch 

Give  me  my  sword.  — 
Who 's  there  ?  10 

Macbeth.    A  friend. 

Banquo.   What,  sir,   not  yet   at   rest  ?     The  king 's 

abed. 

He  hath  been  in  unusual  pleasure,  and 
Sent  forth  great  largess  to  your  offices. 
This  diamond  he  greets  your  wife  withal, 
By  the  name  of  most  kind  hostess  ;  and  shut  up 
In  measureless  content. 

Macbeth.  Being  unprepar'd, 

Our  will  became  the  servant  to  defect, 
Which  else  should  free  have  wrought. 

Banquo.  All 's  well. 

I  dreamt  last  night  of  the  three  weird  sisters  ;  20 

To  you  they  have  show'd  some  truth. 

Macbeth.  I  think  not  of  them  ; 

Yet,  when  we  can  entreat  an  hour  to  serve, 
We  would  spend  it  in  some  words  upon  that  business, 
If  you  would  grant  the  time. 

Banquo.  At  your  kind'st  leisure. 

Macbeth.    If  you  shall  cleave  to  my  consent,  when 

't  is, 
It  shall  make  honour  for  you. 

Banquo.  So  I  lose  none 


Scene  I]  Macbeth  69 

In  seeking  to  augment  it,  but  still  keep 
My  bosom  franchis'd  and  allegiance  clear, 
I  shall  be  counsell'd. 

Macbeth.  Good  repose  the  while  ! 

Banquo.    Thanks,  sir  ;  the  like  to  you  !  30 

{Exeunt  Banquo  and  Fleance. 

Macbeth.    Go  bid   thy  mistress,  when   my  drink 'is 

ready, 
She  strike  upon  the  bell.     Get  thee  to  bed.  — 

\Exit  Servant. 

Is  this  a  dagger  which  I  see  before  me, 
The  handle  toward  my  hand  ?  —  Come,  let  me  clutch 

thee. 

I  have  thee  not,  and  yet  I  see  thee  still. 
Art  thou  not,  fatal  vision,  sensible 
To  feeling  as  to  sight  ?  or  art  thou  but 
A  dagger  of  the  mind,  a  false  creation, 
Proceeding  from  the  heat-oppressed  brain  ? 
I  see  thee  yet,  in  form  as  palpable  40 

As  this  which  now  I  draw. 
Thou  marshall'st  me  the  way  that  I  was  going, 
And  such  an  instrument  I  was  to  use.  — 
Mine  eyes  are  made  the  fools  o'  the  other  senses, 
Or  else  worth  all  the  rest ;  I  see  thee  still, 
And  on  thy  blade  and  dudgeon  gouts  of  blood, 
Which  was  not  so  before.  —  There  's  no  such  thing ; 
It  is  the  bloody  business  which  informs 
Thus  to  mine  eyes.  —  Now  o'er  the  one  half  world 
Nature  seems  dead,  and  wicked  dreams  abuse  5° 


yo  Macbeth  [Act  n 

The  curtain 'd  sleep  ;  witchcraft  celebrates 

Pale  Hecate's  offerings,  and  wither'd  Murther, 

Alarum 'd  by  his  sentinel  the  wolf, 

Whose  howl 's  his  watch,  thus  with  his  stealthy  pace, 

With  Tarquin's  ravishing  strides,  towards  his  design 

Moves  like  a  ghost.  —  Thou  sure  and  firm-set  earth, 

Hear  not  my  steps,  which  way  they  walk,  for  fear 

Thy  very  stones  prate  of  my  whereabout, 

And  take  the  present  horror  from  the  time, 

Which  now  suits  with  it.  —  Whiles  I  threat  he  lives  ;  6<v 

Words  to  the  heat  of  deeds  too  cool  breath  gives. 

[A  bell  rings . 

I  go,  and  it  is  done  ;  the  bell  invites  me.  — 
Hear  it  not,  Duncan,  for  it  .is  a  knell 


Knell     j 

'      v/   I'-  *"  \  -  *-T  ~~       I 

That  sumjmons  theej  to  heaven  or  to  hejl.  \Exit 


I 


SCENE  II.     The  Same 
Enter  LADY  MACBETH 

Lady  Macbeth.    That  which  hath  made  them  drunk 

hath  made  me  bold  ; 
What  hath  quench'd  them  hath  given  me  fire.  —  Hark  I 

Peace ! 

It  was  the  owl  that  shriek'd,  the  fatal  bellman 
Which  gives  the  stern'st  good-night.     He  is  about  it. 
The  doors  are  open,  and  the  surfeited  grooms 
Do  mock  their  charge  with   snores  ;    I  have  drugg'd 
their  possets, 


& 

Scene  II]  Macbeth  \T  f  ?I 

That  death  and  nature  do  contend  about  them, 
Whether  they  live  or  die. 

Macbeth.    [  Within]  Who's  there  ?  what,  ho  ! 

Lady  Macbeth.    Alack,  I  am  afraid  they  have  awak'd, 
And  't  is  not  done.     The  attempt  and  not  the  deed     10 
Confounds  us.     Hark  !     I  laid  their  daggers  ready ; 
He  could  not  miss  'em.     Had  he  not  resembled 
My  father  as  he  slept,  I  had  done  't.  —  My  husband  ! 

Enter  MACBETH 

Macbeth.    I   have  done   the  deed.      Didst  thou  not 

hear  a  noise  ? 
Lady   Macbeth.    I   heard   the   owl   scream   and   the 

crickets  cry. 
Did  not  you  speak  ? 

Macbeth.  When  ? 

Lady  Macbeth.  Now. 

Macbeth.  As  I  descended  ? 

Lady  Macbeth.    Ay. 
Macbeth.    Hark  ! 
Who  lies  i'  the  second  chamber  ? 

Lady  Macbeth.  Donalbain. 

Macbeth.    This   is   a   sorry   sight.     {Looking  on   his 
hands.  20 

Lady  Macbeth.    A  foolish  thought,  to  say  a  sorry  sight. 
Macbeth.    There  's  one  did  laugh  in  's  sleep,  and  one 

cried  '  Murther  ! ' 
That  they  did  wake  each  other.    I  stood  and  heard  them ; 


72  Macbeth  [Act  II 

But  they  did  say  their  prayers  and  address'd  them 
Again  to  sleep. 

Lady  Macbeth.    There  are  two  lodg'd  together. 

Macbeth.    One  cried  '  God  bless  us  ! '    and  '  Amen  ' 

the  other, 

As  they  had  seen  me  with  these  hangman's  hands, 
Listening  their  fear.     I  could  not  say  '  Amen  ' 
When  they  did  say  '  God  bless  us  !  ' 

Lady  Macbeth.    Consider  it  not  so  deeply.  30 

Macbeth.     But    wherefore    could    not    I    pronounce 

'  Amen  '  ? 

I  had  most  need  of  blessing,  and  '  Amen  ' 
Stuck  in  my  throat.  *k 

Lady  Macbeth.          These  deeds  must  not  be  thought 
After  these  ways  ;  so,  it  will  make  'us  mad. 

Macbeth.    Methought  I  heard  a  voice  cry  '  Sleep  no 

more !  ^x 

Macbeth  does  murther  sleep  V— the  innocent  sleep, 
Sleep  that  knits  up  the  ravelrd  sleave  of  care, 
The  death  of  each  day's  life,  sore  labour's  bath,  ^^^ 
Balm  of  hurt  minds,  great  nature's  second  course, 
Chief  nourisher  in  life's  feast,  -^^ 

Lady  Macbeth.  What  do  you  mean  ?  .p 

Macbeth.    Still  it  cried  '  Sleep  no  more  !  '  to  all  the 

house : 

'  Glamis  hath  murther'd  sleep,  and  therefore  Cawdor 
Shall  sleep  no  more;  Macbeth  shall  sleep  no  more.' 

Lady  Macbeth.    Who  was  it  that  thus  cried  ?     Why, 
worthy  thane, 


Scene  II]  Macbeth 


73 


You  do  unbend  your  noble  strength,  to  think 
So  brainsickly  of  things.     Go  get  some  water, 
And  wash  this  filthy  witness  from  your  hand. 
Why  did  you  bring  these  daggers  from  the  place  ? 
They  must  lie  there ;  go  carry  them,  and  smear 
The  sleepy  grooms  with  blood. 

Macbeth.  I  '11  go  no  more.         50 

I  am  afraid  to  think  what  I  have  done  ; 
Look  on  't  again  I  dare  not. 

Lady  Macbeth.  Infirm  of  purpose  ! 

Give  me  the  daggers.     The  sleeping  and  the  dead 
Are  but  as  pictures ;  't  is  the  eye  of  childhood 
That  fears  a  painted  devil.     If  he  do  bleed, 
I  '11  gild  the  faces  of  the  grooms  withal; 
For  it  must  seem  their  guilt.     \Exit.     Knocking  within. 

Macbeth.  Whence  is  that  knocking  ? 

How  is  't  with  me,  when  every  noise  appals  me  ? 
What  hands  are  here  ?     Ha  !  they  pluck  out  mine  eyes. 
Will  all  great  Neptune's  ocean  wash  this  blood  60 

Clean  from  my  hand  ?     No ;  this  my  hand  will  rather 
The  multitudinous  seas  incarnadine, 
Making  the  green  one  red. 

Re-enter  LADY  MACBETH 
Lady  Macbeth.    My  hands  are  of  your  colour,  but  I 

shame 
To  wear  a  heart  so  white.     \Knocking  within.'}     I  hear 

a  knocking 
At  the  south  entry ;  retire  we  to  our  chamber. 


74  Macbeth  [Act  n 

A  little  water  clears  us  of  this  deed ; 

How  easy  is  it,  then  !     Your  constancy 

Hath  left  you  unattended.     [Knocking  •within.']     Hark  ! 

more  knocking. 

Get  on  your  nightgown,  lest  occasion  call  us  70 

And  show  us  to  be  watchers.     Be  not  lost 
So  poorly  in  your  thoughts. 

Macbeth.  To  know  my  deed,  't  were  best  not  know 

myself.  [Knocking  within. 

Wake  Duncan  with  thy  knocking  !    I  would  thou  couldst ! 

[Exeunt. 

SCENE  III.     The  Same 
Enter  a  Porter.     Knocking  within 

Porter.  Here  's  a  knocking  indeed  !  If  a  man 
were  porter  of  hell-gate,  he  should  have  old  turning 
the  key.  [Knocking  withinJ]  Knock,  knock,  knock  ! 
Who  's  there,  i'  the  name  of  Beelzebub  ?  Here  's  a 
farmer,  that  hanged  himself  on  th'  expectation  of 
plenty.  Come  in  time ;  have  napkins  enow  about 
you,  here  you  '11  sweat  for  't.  [Knocking  within^] 
Knock,  knock  !  Who  's  there,  in  th'  other  devil's 
name  ?  Faith,  here  's  an  equivocator,  that  could 
swear  in  both  the  scales  against  either  scale ;  who  10 
committed  treason  enough  for  God's  sake,  yet  could 
not  equivocate  to  heaven.  O,  come  in,  equivocator. 
[Knocking  within.']  Knock,  knock,  knock  !  Who  's 
there  ?  Faith,  here  's  an  English  tailor  come  hither, 


Scene  III]  Macbeth  75 

for  stealing  out  of  a  French  hose.  Come  in,  tailor  ; 
here  you  may  roast  your  goose.  [Knocking  within.] 
Knock,  knock ;  never  at  quiet !  What  are  you  ?  But 
this  place  is  too  cold  for  hell.  I  '11  devil-porter  it  no 
further  ;  I  had  thought  to  have  let  in  some  of  all  pro- 
fessions, that  go  the  primrose  way  to  the  everlasting  20 
bonfire.  —  [Knocking  u>ithin.~\  Anon,  anon !  I  pray 
you,  remember  the  porter.  [Opens  the  gate. 

Enter  MACDUFF  and  LENNOX 

Maeduff.   Was  it  so  late,  friend,  ere  you  went  to 

bed, 
That  you  do  lie  so  late  ? 

Porter.    Faith,  sir,  we  were  carousing  till  the  second 

cock. 
Maeduff.    Is  thy  master  stirring  ? 

Enter  MACBETH 

Our  knocking  has  awak'd  him ;  here  he  comes. 

Lennox.   Good  morrow,  noble  sir. 

Macbeth.  Good  morrow,  both. 

Maeduff.    Is  the  king  stirring,  worthy  thane  ? 

Macbeth.  Not  Yet- 

Maeduff.    He  did  command  me   to   call   timely   on 
him ;  3<> 

I  have  almost  slipp'd  the  hour. 

Macbeth.  I'  11  bring  you  to  him. 

Maeduff.    I  know  this  is  a  joyful  trouble  to  you, 
But  yet  't  is  one. 


7 6  Macbeth  [Act  n 

Macbeth.    The  labour  we  delight  in  physics  pain. 
This  is  the  door. 

Macduff.  I  '11  make  so  bold  to  call, 

For  't  is  my  limited  service.  \Exit. 

Lennox.    Goes  the  king  hence  to-day  ? 

Macbeth.  He  does  ;  he  did  appoint  so. 

Lennox.    The  night  has  been  unruly.     Where  we  lay, 
Our  chimneys  were  blown  down,  and,  as  they  say, 
Lamentings  heard  i'  the  air,  strange  screams  of  death, 
And  prophesying  with  accents  terrible  41 

Of  dire  combustion  and  confus'd  events  t- 

New  hatched  to  the  jwoeful  time  ;  the!  obscure/ bird 
Clamour'd'the  livelong  nigjit ;  some  [say  the  earth 
Was  feverous  and  did  shake. 

Macbeth.  'T  was  a  rough  night. 

Lennox.    My  young  remembrance  cannot  parallel 
A  fellow  to  it. 

Re-enter  MACDUFF 

Macduff.    O    horror,    horror,    horror!      Tongue   nor 

heart 
Cannot  conceive  nor  name  thee  ! 

Macbeth 


What 's  the  matter  ? 
Lennox 

Macduff.    Confusion  now  hath  made  his  masterpiece. 
Most  sacrilegious  murther  hath  broke  ope  51 

The  Lord's  anointed  temple,  and  stole  thence 
The  life  o'  the  building. 

Macbeth.  What  is  't  you  say  ?  the  life  ? 

Lennox.    Mean  you  his  majesty  ? 


Scene  III]  Macbeth 


77 


Macduff.    Approach  the  chamber,  and  destroy  your 

sight 

With  a  new  Gorgon.     Do  not  bid  me  speak ; 
See,  and  then  speak  yourselves.  — 

\Exeunt  Macbeth  and  Lennox. 

Awake,  awake ! 

Ring  the  alarum-bell.  —  Murther  and  treason  !  — 
Banquo  and  Donalbain  !  —  Malcolm  !  awake  ! 
Shake,  off  this  downy  sleep,  death's  counterfeit,  60 

And  look  on  death  itself !  up,  up  and  see 
The  great  doom's  image  !  —  Malcolm  !  Banquo  ! 
As  from  your  graves  rise  up,  and  walk  like  sprites, 
To  countenance  this  horror.  —  Ring  the  bell. 

\Bett  rings. 
Enter  LADY  MACBETH 

Lady  Macbeth.   What 's  the  business, 
That  such  a  hideous  trumpet  calls  to  parley 
The  sleepers  of  the  house  ?  speak,  speak ! 

Macduff.  O  gentle  lady, 

'T  is  not  for  you  to  hear  what  I  can  speak ; 
The  repetition,  in  a  woman's  ear, 
Would  murther  as  it  fell.  — 

Enter  BANQUO 

O  Banquo,  Banquo  !       7° 
Our  royal  master  's  murther'd. 

Lady  Macbeth.  Woe,  alas  1 

What,  in  our  house  ? 

Banquo.  Too  cruel  any  where.  — 


78  Macbeth  [Act  II 

Dear  Duff,  I  prithee,  contradict  thyself, 
And  say  it  is  not  so. 

Re-enter  MACBETH  and  LENNOX 

Macbeth,    Had  I  but  died  an  hour  before  this  chance, 
I  had  liv'd  a  blessed  time ;  for  from  this  instant 
There  's  nothing  serious  in  mortality. 
All  is  but  toys  ;  renown  and  grace  is  dead ; 
The  wine  of  life  is  drawn,  and  the  mere  lees 
Is  left  this  vault  to  brag  of.  So 

Enter  MALCOLM  and  DONALBAIN. 

Donalbain.     What  is  amiss  ? 

Macbeth.  You  are,  and  do  not  know  't ; 

The  spring,  the  head,  the  fountain  of  your  blood 
Is  stopp'd,  —  the  very  source  of  it  is  stopp'd. 

Macduff.     Your  royal  father 's  murther'd. 

Malcolm.  O,  by  whom  ? 

Lennox.  Those  of  his  chamber,  as  it  seem 'd,  had  done 't. 
Their  hands  and  faces  were  all  badg'd  with  blood ; 
So  were  their  daggers,  which  unwip'd  we  found 
Upon  their  pillows. 

They  star'd,  and  were  distracted  ;  no  man's  life 
Was  to  be  trusted  with  them.  9o 

Macbeth.     O,  yet  I  do  repent  me  of  my  fury, 
That  I  did  kill  them. 

Macduff.  Wherefore  did  you  so  ? 

Macbeth.     Who  can  be  wise,  amaz'd,  temperate  and 
furious, 


Scene  III]  Macbeth  79 

Loyal  and  neutral,  in  a  moment  ?     No  man  ; 

The  expedition  of  my  violent  love 

Outrun  the  pauser  reason.     Here  lay  Duncan, 

His  silver  skin  lac'd  with  his  golden  blood, 

And  his  gash'd  stabs  look'd  like  a  breach  in  nature 

For  ruin's  wasteful  entrance  ;  there,  the  murtherers, 

Steep'd  in  the  colours  of  their  trade,  their  daggers     too 

Unmannerly  breech'd  with  gore.     Who  could  refrain, 

That  had  a  heart  to  love,  and  in  that  heart 

Courage  to  make  's  love  known  ? 

Lady  Macbeth.  Help  me  hence,  ho  ! 

Macduff.     Look  to  the  lady. 

Malcolm.     [Aside  to  Donalbain~\  Why  do  we  hold  our 

tongues, 
That  most  may  claim  this  argument  for  ours  ? 

Donalbain.     {Aside    to    Maholni\    What    should   be 

spoken  here,  where  our  fate, 
Hid  in  an  auger-hole,  may  rush,  and  seize  us  ? 
Let 's  away ; 
Our  tears  are  not  yet  brew'd. 

Malcolm.  [Aside  to  Donalbain~\  Nor  our  strong  sorrow 
Upon  the  foot  of  motion. 

Banqiio.  Look  to  the  lady.  -  no 

[Lady  Macbeth  is  carried  out. 
And  when  we  have  our  naked  frailties  hid, 
That  suffer  in  exposure,  let  us  meet 
And  question  this  most  bloody  piece  of  work, 
To  know  it  further.     Fears  and  scruples  shake  us  ; 
In  the  great  hand  of  God  I  stand,  and  thence 


80  Macbeth  [Act  n 

Against  the  undivulg'd  pretence  I  fight 
Of  treasonous  malice. 

Macduff.  And  so  do  I. 

All.  So  all. 

Macbeth.     Let 's  briefly  put  on  manly  readiness, 
And  meet  i'  the  hall  together. 

All.  Well  contented. 

[Exeunt  all  but  Malcolm  and  Donalbain. 

Malcolm.    What  will  you  do  ?    Let 's  not  consort  with 
them ;  120 

To  show  an  unfelt  sorrow  is  an  office 
Which  the  false  man  does  easy.     I'll  to  England. 

Donalbain.    To  Ireland,  I ;  our  separated  fortune 
Shall  keep  us  both  the  safer.     Where  we  are, 
There  's  daggers  in  men's  smiles ;  the  near  in  blood, 
The  nearer  bloody. 

Malcolm.  This  murtherous  shaft  that  's  shot 

Hath  not  yet  lighted,  and  our  safest  way 
Is  to  avoid  the  aim.     Therefore,  to  horse  ; 
And  let  us  not  be  dainty  of  leave-taking, 
But  shift  away.     There  's  warrant  in  that  theft  130 

Which  steals  itself  when  there  's  no  mercy  left.  \_Exeunt. 


SCENE  IV.      Without  the  Castle 
Enter  Ross  and  ati  old  Man 

Old  Man.    Threescore  and  ten  I  can  remember  well, 
Within  the  volume  of  which  time  I  have  seen 


Scene  IV]  Macbeth  8 1 

Hours  dreadful  and  things  strange ;  but  this  sore  night 
Hath  trifled  former  knowings. 

Ross.  Ah,  good  father, 

Thou  seest,  the  heavens?  as  troubled  with  man's  act, 
Threaten  his  bloody  stage ;  by  the  clock  't  is  day, 
And  yet  dark  night  strangles  the  travelling  lamp. 
Is  't  night's  predominance  or  the  day's  shame 
That  darkness  does  the  face  of  earth  entomb 
When  living  light  should  kiss  it  ? 

Old  Man.  'T  is  unnatural,      10 

Even  like  the  deed  that  's  done.     On  Tuesday  last, 
A  falcon,  towering  in  her  pride  of  place. 
Was  by  a  mousing  owl  hawk'd  at  and  kill'd. 

Ross.     And  Duncan's  horses  —  a  thing  most  strange 

and  certain  — 

Beauteous  and  swift,  the  minions  of  their  race, 
Turn'd  wild  in  nature,  broke  their  stalls,  flung  out, 
Contending  'gainst  obedience,  as  they  would  make 
War  with  mankind. 

Old  Man.  'T  is  said  they  eat  each  other. 

Ross.    They  did  so,  to  the  amazement  of  mine  eyes  19 
That  look'd  upon  't.     Here  comes  the  good  Macduff.  — 

Enter  MACDUFF 

How  goes  the  world,  sir,  now  ? 

Macduff.  Why,  see  you  not  ? 

Ross.    Is  't  known  who  did   this  more  than   bloody 

deed? 
Macduff.    Those  that  Macbeth  hath  slain. 

MACBETH  —  6 


82  Macbeth  [Act  n 

.Ross.  Alas,  the  day ! 

What  good  could  they  pretend  ? 

Macduff.  They  were  suborn 'd ; 

Malcolm  and  Donalbain,  the  king's  two  sons, 
Are  stolen  away'and  fled,  which  puts  upon  them 
Suspicion  of  the  deed. 

Ross.  'Gainst  nature  still ; 

Thriftless  ambition,  that  wilt  ravin  up 
Thine  own  life's  means  !     Then  't  is  most  like 
The  sovereignty  will  fall  upon  Macbeth.  30 

Macduff.    He  is  already  nam'd,  and  gone  to  Scone 
To  be  invested. 

Ross.  Where  is  Duncan's  body? 

Macduff.    Carried  to  Colme-kill, 
The  sacred  storehouse  of  his  predecessors 
And  guardian  of  their  bones. 

Ross.    .  Will  you  to  Scone  ? 

Macduff.   No,  cousin,  I  '11  to  Fife. 

Ross.  Well,  I  will  thither. 

Macduff.   Well,  may  you  see  things  well  done  there ; 

adieu ! 
Lest  our  old  robes  sit  easier  than  our  new  I 

Ross.    Farewell,  father* 

Old  Man.    God's  benison  go  with  you,  and  with  those 
That  would  make.good  of  bad  and  friends  of  foes  I      41 

[Exeunt. 


DISTANT  VIEW  OF  THE  HEATH 

ACT   III 

SCENE  I.     Forres.     A  Room  in  the  Palace 

Enter  BANQUO 

Banquo.    Thou  hast  it  now,  —  king,  Cawdor,  Glamis, 

all,- 

As  the  weird  women  promis'd,  and  I  fear 
Thou  play'dst  most  foully  for  't.     Yet  it  was  said 
It  should  not  stand  in  thy  posterity, 

83 


84  Macbeth  [Act  in 

But  that  myself  should  be  the  root  and  father 

Of  many  kings.     If  there  come  truth  from  them  — 

As  upon  thee,  Macbeth,  their  speeches  shine  — 

Why,  by  the  verities  on  thee  mad©  good, 

May  they  not  be  my  oracles  as  well 

And  set  me  up  in  hope  ?  —  But  hush  !  no  more.  10 

Sennet  sounded.     Enter  MACBETH,  as  king ;  LADY  MAC- 
BETH, as  queen ;  LENNOX,  Ross,  Lords,  Ladies,  and 
Attendants 

Macbeth.    Here  's  our  chief  guest. 

Lady  Macbeth.  If  he  had  been  forgotten, 

It  had  been  as  a  gap  in  our  great  feast 
And  all-thing  unbecoming. 

Macbeth.    To-night  we  hold  a  solemn  supper,  sir, 
And  I  '11  request  your  presence. 

Banquo.  Let  your  highness 

Command  upon  me,  to  the  which  my  duties 
Are  with  a  most  indissoluble  tie 
For  ever  knit. 

Macbeth.          Ride  you  this  afternoon  ? 

Banquo.    Ay,  my  good  lord. 

Macbeth.    We  should  have   else   desir'd   your   good 
advice,  20 

Which  still  hath  been  both  grave  and  prosperous, 
In  this  day's  council ;  but  we  '11  take  to-morrow. 
Is  't  far  you  ride  ? 

Banquo.    As  far,  my  lord,  as  will  fill  up  the  time 
'Twixt  this  and  supper ;  go  not  my  horse  the  better, 


Scene  I]  Macbeth  85 

^\     "-1  I  "") 

I  musqbecomel  a  borroweij  of  the  night/ 

For  a  dark  hour  or  twain. 

Macbeth.  Fail  not  our  feast. 

Banquo.    My  lord,  I  will  not. 

Macbeth.    We  hear  our  bloody  cousins  are  bestow 'd 
In  England  and  in  Ireland,  not  confessing  30 

Their  cruel  parricide,  filling  their  hearers 
With  strange  invention  ;  but  of  that  to-morrow, 
When  therewithal  we  shall  have  cause  of  state 
Craving  us  jointly.     Hie  you  to  horse  ;  adieu, 
Till  you  return  at  night.     Goes  Fleance  with  you  ? 

Banquo.    Ay,  my  good    lord ;    our    time    does    call 
upon  's. 

Macbeth.    I  wish  your  horses  swift  and  sure  of  foot ; 
And  so  I  do  commend  you  to  their  backs. 
Farewell.  -^_  \Exit  Banquo. 

Let  e\Jery  man'be  master  ofjhis  time!  4° 

Till  seVen  at  night.     To  make  society 
The  sweeter  welcome,  we  will  keep  ourself 
Till  supper-time  alone  ;  while  then,  God  be  with  you  !  — 
\Exeunt  all  but  Macbeth  and  an  Attendant. 
Sirrah,  a  word  with  you :  attend  those  men 
Our  pleasure  ? 

Attendant.    They  are,   my  lord,  without  the   palace 

Tacbeth.    Bring  them  before  us.  -      {Exit  Attendant. 

To  be  thus  is  nothing, 
But  to  be  safely  thus.     Our  fears  in  Banquo 
Stick  deep,  and  in  his  royalty  of  nature 


86  Macbeth  [Act  m 

Reigns   that  which   would   be  fear'd ;    't  is   much  h 
dares,  '5° 

And,  to  that  dauntless  temper  of  his  mind, 
He  hath  a  wisdom  that  doth  guide  his  valour 
To  act  in  safety.     There  is  none  but  he 
Whose  being  I  do  fear ;  and  under  him 
My  Genius  is  rebuk'd,  as  it  is  said 
Mark  Antony's  was  by  (taesar.     He  chid  the  sisters, 
When  first  they  put  tjje Tmme  of  king  upon  me, 
And  bade  them  speak  to  hi^);  then  prophet-like 
They  hail'd  him  fath^-  to  a  line  of  kings. 
Upon  m^^jhead'Jthey  prac'd  a  fruitless  crown,  60 

And  put  a  baran  so^we4ri  my  gripe, 
Thence  to^e^renchid  wim  an  unlineal  hand, 
No  son  of  mine(_succ'8eding.     If  't  be  so, 
For  Banquo's  issue 4wtve  f^I'd  my  mind  ; 
For  them  the  gracious  Duncan  "have  I  murther'd  ; 
Put  rancours  ia^  the  vfcteel  of  my  peace 
Only  for  theni;  £nds%flalne  eternal  jewel 
Given  to  the  common^ghemy  of  man, 
To  make  them  kings,  the  seed  of  Banquo  kings 
Ra^he^_than  so,  come,  fate,  into  the  list,        * 
And  champion  "ma  to  theTifterance  1  — Who  's 

Re-enter  Attendant,  with  frvo  Murderers 

Now  go  to  the  door,  and  stay  there  till  we  call.  — 

\Exit  Attendant. 
Was  it  not  yesterday  we  spoke  together  ? 

First  Murderer.    It  was,  so  please  your  highness. 


Scene  I]  Macbeth  87 

Macbeth.  Well  then,  now 

Have  you  consider'd  of  my  speeches  ?     Know 
That  it  was  he  in  the  times  past  which  held  you 
So  under  fortune,  which  you  thought  had  been 
Our  innocent  self.     This  I  made  good  to  you 
In  our  last  conference,  pass'd  in  probation  with  you, 
How  you  were  borne  in  hand,  how  cross 'd,  the  instru- 
ments, 8o 
Who  wrought  with  them,  and  all  things  else  that  might 
To  half  a  soul  and  to  a  notion  craz'd 
Say  '  Thus  did  Banquo.' 

First  Murderer.  You  made  it  known  to  us. 

Macbeth.    I  did  so,  and  went  further,  which  is  now 
Our  point  of  second  meeting.     Do  you  find 
Your  patience  so  predominant  in  your  nature 
That  you  can  let  this  go  ?     Are  you  so  gospell'd 
To  pray  for  this  good  man  and  for  his  issue, 
Whose  heavy  hand  hath  bow'd  you  to  the  grave 
And  beggar 'd  yours  for  ever  ? 

First  Murderer.  We  are  men,  my  liege. 

Macbeth.    Ay,  in  the  catalogue  ye  go  for  men,  91 

As  hounds  and  greyhounds,  mongrels,  spaniels,  curs,  , 
Shoughs,  water-rugs,  and  demi-wolves,  are  ^tep?(Jk*r ' 
All  by  the  name  of  dogs.     The  valued  file 
Distinguishes  the  swift,  the  slow,  the  subtle, 
The  housekeeper,  the  hunter,  every  one 
According  to  the  gift  which  bounteous  nature 
Hath  in  him  clos'd,  whereby  he  does  receive 
Particular  addition,  from  the  bill 


88  Macbeth  [Act  m 

That  writes  them  all  alike  ;  and  so  of  men.  100 

Now  if  you  have  a  station  in  the  file, 

Not  i'  the  worst  rank  of  manhood,  say  't, 

And  I  will  put  that  business  in  your  bosoms, 

Whose  execution  takes  your  enemy  off, 

Grapples  you  to  the  heart  and  love  of  us, 

Who  wear  our  health  but  sickly  in  his  life, 

Which  in  his  death  were  perfect. 

Second  Murderer.  I  am  one,  my  liege, 

Whom  the  vile  blows  and  buffets  of  the  world 
Have  so  incens'd  that  I  am  reckless  what  « 

I  do  to  spite  the  world. 

First  Murderer.  And  I  another  no 

So  weary  with  disasters,  tugg'd  with  fortune, 
That  I  would  set  my  life  on  any  chance, 
To  mend  it  or  be  rid  on  't. 

Macbeth.  Both  of  you 

Know  Banquo  was  your  enemy. 

Both  Murderers.  True,  my  lord. 

Macbeth.    So  is  he  mine,   and   in   such  bloody  dis- 
tance 

That  every  minute  of  his  being  thrusts 
Against  my  near'st  of  life  ;  and  though  I  could 
With  barefac'd  power  sweep  him  from  my  sight 
And  bid  my  will  avouch  it,  yet  I  must  not, 
For  certain  friends  that  are  both  his  and  mine,  120 

Whose  loves  I  may  not  drop,  but  wail  his  fall 
Who  I  myself  struck  down  :  and  thence  it  is, 
That  I  to  your  assistance  do  make  love, 


Scene  II]  Macbeth  89 

Masking  the  business  from  the  common  eye 
For  sundry  weighty  reasons. 

Second  Murderer.  We  shall,  my  lord, 

Perform  what  you  command  us. 

First  Murderer.  Though  our  lives  — 

Macbeth.    Your  spirits  shine  through  you.     Within 

this  hour  at  most 

I  will  advise  you  where  to  plant  yourselves, 
Acquaint  you  with  the  perfect  spy  o'  the  time, 
The  moment  on  't,  for  't  must  be  done  to-night,          130 
And  something  from  the  palace  ;  always  thought 
That  I  require  a  clearness.     And  with  him  — 
To  leave  no  rubs  nor  botches  in  the  work  — 
Fleance  his  son,  that  keeps  him  company, 
Whose  absence  is  no  less  material  to  me 
Than  is  his  father's,  must  embrace  the  fate 
Of  that  dark  hour.     Resolve  yourselves  apart ; 
I  '11  come  to  you  anon. 

Both  Murderers.  We  are  resolv'd,  my  lord. 

Macbeth.    I  '11  call  upon  you  straight ;  abide  within.  — 

[Exeunt  Murderers. 

It  is  concluded  ;  Banquo,  thy  soul's  flight,  140 

If  it  find  heaven,  must  find  it  out  to-night.  [Exit. 

SCENE  II.     The  Same.     Another  Room 
Enter  LADY  MACBETH  and  a  Servant 

Lady  Macbeth.    Is  Banquo  gone  from  court  ? 
Servant.    Ay,  madam,  but  returns  again  to-night. 


90  Macbeth  [Act  m 

Lady  Macbeth.   Say  to  the  king,  I  would  attend  his 

leisure 
For  a  few  words. 

Servant.  Madam,  I  will.  \Exit. 

Lady  Macbeth.  Nought  's  had,  all  's  spent, 

Where  our  desire  is  got  without  content ; 
'T  is  safer  to  be  that  which  we  destroy 
Than  by  destruction  dwell  in  doubtful  joy.  — 

Enter  MACBETH 

How  now,  my  lord !  why  do  you  keep  alone, 

Of  sorriest  fancies  your  companions  making, 

Using  those  thoughts  which  should  indeed  have  died  10 

With  them  they  think  on  ?     Things  without  all  remedy 

Should  be  without  regard  ;  what 's  done  is  done. 

Macbeth.    We  have  scotch'd  the  snake,  not  kill'd  it ; 
She  '11  close  and  be  herself,  whilst  our  poor  malice 
Remains  in  danger  of  her  former  tooth. 
But  let  the  frame  of  things  disjoint,  both  the  worlds 

suffer, 

Ere  we  will  eat  our  meal  in  fear,  and  sleep 
In  the  affliction  of  these  terrible  dreams 
That  shake  us  nightly  ;  better  be  with  the  dead, 
Whom  we,  to  gain  our  peace,  have  sent,  to  peace,         20 
Than  on  the  torture  of  the  mind  to  lie 
In  restless  ecstasy.     Duncan  is  in  his  grave  ; 
After  life's  fitful  fever  he  sleeps  well. 
Treason  has  done  his  worst ;  nor  steel,  nor  poison, 


Scene  II]  Macbeth 


91 


Malice  domestic,  foreign  levy,  nothing, 
Can  touch  him  further. 

Lady  Macbeth.  Come  on. 

Gentle  my  lord,  sleek  o'er  your  rugged  looks ; 
Be  bright  and  jovial  among  your  guests  to-night. 

Macbeth.    So  shall  I,  love,  and  so,  I  pray,  be  you. 
Let  your  remembrance  apply  to  Banquo ;  30 

Present  him  eminence,  both  with  eye  and  tongue : 
Unsafe  the  while  that  we 

Must  lave  our  honours  in  these  flattering  streams, 
And  make  our  faces  visards  to  our  hearts, 
Disguising  what  they  are. 

Lady  Macbeth.  You  must  leave  this. 

Macbeth.    O,  full  of  scorpions  is  my  mind,  dear  wife  ! 
Thou  know'st  that  Banquo,  and  his  Fleance,  lives. 

Lady  Macbeth.    But  in    them   nature's   copy   's   not 
eterne. 

Macbeth.  There  's  comfort  yet,  they  are  assailable  ; 
Then  be  thou  jocund.     Ere  the  bat  hath  flown  40 

His  cloister'd  flight,  ere  to  black  Hecate's  summons 
The  shard-borne  beetle  with  his  drowsy  hums 
Hath  rung  night's  yawning  peal,  there  shall  be  done 
A  deed  of  dreadful  note. 

Lady  Macbeth.  What  's  to  be  done  ? 

Macbeth.    Be  -innocent  of    the    knowledge,   dearest 

chuck, 

Till  thou  applaud  the  deed.  —  Come,  seeling  night, 
Scarf  up  the  tender  eye  of  pitiful  day, 
And  with  thy  bloody  and  invisible  hand 


92  Macbeth  [Act  m 

Cancel  and  tear  to  pieces  that  great  bond 
Which  keeps  me  pale  !  —  Light  thickens,  and  the  crow 
Makes  wing  to  the  rooky  wood  ;  51 

Good  things  of  day  begin  to  droop  and  drowse, 
Whiles  night's  black  agents  to  their  preys  do  rouse. 
Thou  marvell'st  at  my  words,  but  hold  thee  still  ; 
Things  bad  begun  make  strong  themselves  by  ill. 
So,  prithee,  go  with  me. 

SCENE  III.     A  Park  near  the  Palace 


First  Murderer.    But  who  did  bid  thee  join  with  us  ? 

Third  Murderer.  Macbeth. 

Second  Murderer.    He  needs  not  our  mistrust,  since 

he  delivers 

Our  offices  and  what  we  have  to  do 
To  the  direction  just. 

First  Murderer.  Then  stand  with  us. 

The  west  yet  glimmers  with  some  streaks  of  day ; 
Now  spurs  the  lated  traveller  apace 
To  gain  the  timely  inn,  and  near  approaches 
The  subject  of  our  watch. 

Third  Murderer.  Hark  !  I  hear  horses. 

Banquo.    [  Withhi\  Give  us  a  light  there,  ho  ! 

Second  Murderer.  Then  't  is  he  ;  the  rest 

That  are  within  the  note  of  expectation  10 

Already  are  i'  the  court. 

First  Murderer.  His  horses  go  about. 


Scene  IV]  Macbeth  93 

Third  Murderer.  Almost  a  mile  ;  but  he  does  usually, 
So  all  men  do,  from  hence  to  the  palace  gate 
Make  it  their  walk. 

Second  Murderer.     A  light,  a  light ! 

Enter  BANQUO,  and  FLEANCE  with  a  Torch 

Third  Murderer.  'T  is  he. 

first  Murderer.    Stand  to  't. 

Banquo.    It  will  be  rain  to-night. 

First  Murderer.  Let  it  come  down. 

\They  set  upon  Banquo. 

Banquo.  O,  treachery  !  Fly,  good  Fleance,  fly,  fly,  fly ! 
Thou  mayst  revenge. —  O  slave  !  [Dies.  Fleance  escapes. 

Third  Murderer.    Who  did  strike  out  the  light  ? 

First  Murderer.  Was  't  not  the  way  ? 

Third  Murderer.  There  's  but  one  down ;  the  son  is 
fled. 

Second  Murderer.  We  have  lost 

Best  half  of  our  affair.  21 

First  Murderer.  Well,  let  's  away  and  say  how  much 
is  done.  {Exeunt. 

SCENE  IV.     Hall  in  the  Palace 

A   Banquet  prepared.     Enter  MACBETH,   LADY   MAC- 
BETH, Ross,  LENNOX,  Lords,  and  Attendants 

Macbeth.    You  know  your  own  degrees ;  sit  down. 

At  first 
And  last  the  hearty  welcome. 


94  Macbeth  [Act  in 

Lords.  Thanks  to  your  majesty. 

Macbeth.    Ourself  will  mingle  with  society 
And  play  the  humble  host. 
Our  hostess  keeps  her  state,  but  in  best  time 
We  will  require  her  welcome. 

Lady  Macbeth.    Pronounce  it  for  me,  sir,  to  all  our 

friends, 
For  my  heart  speaks  they  are  welcome. 

First  Murderer  appears  at  the  door 

Macbeth.    See,  they  encounter  thee  with  their  hearts' 

thanks.  — 

Both  sides  are  even  ;   here  I  '11  sit  i'  the  midst.  10 

Be  large  in  mirth  ;  anon  we  '11  drink  a  measure 
The  table  round.  —  [Approaching  the  door\     There   's 

blood  upon  thy  face. 
Murderer.    'T  is  Banquo's  then. 
Macbeth.    'T  is  better  thee  without  than  he  within. 
Is  he  dispatch'd  ? 

Murderer.    My  lord,  his  throat  is  cut ;  that  I  did  for 

him. 
Macbeth.   Thou  art  the  best  o'  the  cut-throats;  yet 

he  's  good 

That  did  the  like  for  Fleance.     If  thou  didst  it, 
Thou  art  the  nonpareil. 

Murderer.  Most  royal  sir, 

Fleance  is  scap'd. 

Macbeth.   \Aside~\     Then  comes  my  fit  again.     I  had 
--else  been  perfect, 


Scene  IV]  Macbeth  95 

Whole  as  the  marble,  founded  as  the  rock, 

As  broad  and  general  as  the  casing  air ; 

But  now  I  am  cabin'd,  cribb'd,  confin'd,  bound  in 

To  saucy  doubts  and  fears.  —  But  Banquo's  safe  ? 

Murderer.    Ay,    my  good   lord  ;   safe  in  a  ditch  hej 

bides, 

With  twenty  trenched  gashes  on  his  head, 
The  least  a  death  to  nature. 

Macbeth.  Thanks  for  that. 

[Aside]     There  the  grown  serpent  lies  ;  the  worm  that 's 

fled 

Hath  nature  that  in  time  will  venom  breed,  30 

No  teeth  for  the  present.  —  Get  thee  gone  ;  to-morrow 
We  '11  hear  ourselves  again.  [Exit  Murderer. 

Lady  Macbeth.  My  royal  lord, 

You  do  not  give  the  cheer  ;  the  feast  is  sold 
That  is  not  often  vouch 'd,  while  't  is  a-making, 
'T  is  given  with  welcome.     To  feed  were  best  at  home  ; 
From  thence  the  sauce  to  meat  is  ceremony ; 
Meeting  were  bare  without  it. 

Macbeth.  Sweet  remembrancer! 

Now  good  digestion  wait  on  appetite, 
And  health  on  both  ! 

Lennox.  May  't  please  your  highness  sit. 

The  Ghost  of  Banquo  enters,  and  sits  in  Macbeth' s 
place 

Macbeth.    Here  had   we   now  our  country's  honour 
roof'd  4° 


96  .      Macbeth  [Act  in 

Were  the  grac'd  person  of  our  Banquo  present, 
Who  may  I  rather  challenge  for  unkindness 
Than  pity  for  mischance  ! 

J?oss.  His  absence,  sir, 

Lays  blame  upon  his  promise.     Please  't  your  highness 
To  grace  us  with  your  royal  company. 

Macbeth.    The  table  's  full. 

Lennox.  Here  is  a  place  reserv'd,  sir. 

Macbeth.    Where  ? 

Lennox.    Here,  my  good  lord.     What  is  't  that  moves 
your  highness  ? 

Macbeth.    Which  of  you  have  done  this  ? 

Lords.  What,  my  good  lord  ? 

Macbeth.    Thou  canst  not  say  I  did  it ;  never  shake  50 
Thy  gory  locks  at  me. 

JRoss.    Gentlemen,  rise  ;  his  highness  is  not  well. 

Lady  Macbeth.    Sit,  worthy  friends,  my  lord  is  often 

thus, 

And  hath  been  from  his  youth  ;  pray  you,  keep  seat, 
The  fit  is  momentary ;  upon  a  thought 
He  will  again  be  well.     If  much  you  note  him, 
You  shall  offend  him  and  extend  his  passion  ; 
Feed,  and  regard  him  not.  —  Are  you  a  man  ? 

Macbeth.    Ay,  and  a  bold  one,  that  dare  look  on  that 
Which  might  appal  the  devil. 

Lady  Macbeth.  O  proper  stuff !  60 

This  is  the  very  painting  of  your  fear  ; 
This  is  the  air-drawn  dagger  which,  you  said, 
Led  you  to  Duncan.     O,  these  flaws  and  starts, 


Scene  IV]  Macbeth  97 

Impostors  to  true  fear,  would  well  become 
A  woman's  story  at  a  winter's  fire, 
Authoriz'd  by  her  grandam.     Shame  itself! 
Why  do  you  make  such  faces  ?     When  all 's  done, 
You  look  but  on  a  stool. 

Macbeth.    Prithee,  see  there  !  behold  !  look !  lo !  how 

say  you  ?  — 

Why,  what  care  I  ?     If  thou  canst  nod,  speak  too.  —  70 
If  charnel-houses  and  our  graves  must  send 
Those  that  we  bury  back,  our  monuments 
Shall  be  the  maws  of  kites.  \Ghost  vanishes. 

Lady  Macbeth.  What,  quite  unmann'd  in  folly? 

Macbeth.   If  I  stand  here,  I  saw  him. 

Lady  Macbeth.  Fie,  for  shame  ! 

Macbeth.    Blood  hath  been  shed  ere  now,  i'  the  olden 

time, 

Ere  human  statute  purg'd  the  gentle  weal ; 
Ay,  and  since  too,  murthers  have  been  perform'd 
Too  terrible  for  the  ear.     The  time  has  been 
That  when  the  brains  were  out  the  man  would  die, 
And  there  an  end  ;  but  now  they  rise  again,  80 

With  twenty  mortal  murthers  on  their  crowns, 
And  push  us  from  our  stools.     This  is  more  strange 
Than  such  a  murther  is. 

Lady  Macbeth.  My  worthy  lord, 

Your  noble  friends  do  lack  you. 

Macbeth.  I  do  forget.  — 

Do  not  muse  at  me,  my  most  worthy  friends  ; 
I  have  a  strange  infirmity,  which  is  nothing 

MACBETH  —  7 


98  Macbeth  [Act  m 

To  those  that  know  me.     Come,  love  and  health  to 

all; 

Then  I  '11  sit  down.  —  Give  me  some  wine,  fill  full. — 
I  drink  to  the  general  joy  o'  the  whole  table, 
And  to  our  dear  friend  Banquo,  whom  we  miss  ;          90 
Would  he  were  here !  to  all  and  him  we  thirst, 
And  all  to  all. 

Lords.  Our  duties,  and  the  pledge. 

Re-enter  Ghost 

Macbeth.    Avaunt !  and  quit  my  sight !  let  the  earth 

hide  thee ! 

Thy  bones  are  marrowless,  thy  blood  is  cold  ; 
Thou  hast  no  speculation  in  those  eyes 
Which  thou  dost  glare  with. 

Lady  Macbeth.  Think  of  this,  good  peers, 

But  as  a  thing  of  custom ;  't  is  no  other, 
Only  it  spoils  the  pleasure  of  the  time. 

Macbeth.   What  man  dare,  I  dare. 

Approach  thou  like  the  rugged  Russian  bear,  100 

The  arm'd  rhinoceros,  or  the  Hyrcan  tiger  ; 
Take  any  shape  but  that,  and  my  firm  nerves 
Shall  never  tremble  :  or  be  alive  again, 
And  dare  me  to  the  desert  with  thy  sword  ; 
If  trembling  I  inhabit  then,  protest  me 
The  baby  of  a  girl.     Hence,  horrible  shadow ! 
Unreal  mockery,  hence  !  —  \Ghost  vanishes. 

Why,  so  ;  being  gone, 
I  am  a  man  again.  — Pray  you,  sit  still. 


Scene  IV]  •      Macbeth 


99 


Lady  Macbeth.    You  have  displac'd  the  mirth,  brc 

the  good  meeting, 
With  most  admir'd  disorder. 

Macbeth.  Can  such  things  be,     no 

And  overcome  us  like  a  summer's  cloud, 
Without  our  special  wonder  ?     You  make  me  strange 
Even  to  the  disposition  that  I  owe, 
When  now  I  think  you  can  behold  such  sights, 
And  keep  the  natural  ruby  of  your  cheeks 
When  mine  is  blanch 'd  with  fear. 

Ross,  What  sights,  my  lord  ? 

Lady  Macbeth.    I   pray   you,    speak   not;    he  grows 

worse  and  worse  ; 

Question  enrages  him.     At  once,  good  night ; 
Stand  not  upon  the  order  of  your  going, 
But  go  at  once. 

Lennox.  Good  night ;  and  better  health          120 

Attend  his  majesty ! 

Lady  Macbeth.  A  kind  good  night  to  all ! 

[Exeunt  all  but  Macbeth  and  Lady  Macbeth. 
Macbeth.    It  will  have  blood,  they  say;  blood  will 

have  blood. 
Stones    have    been    known    to    move    and    trees    to 

speak ; 

Augurs  and  understood  relations  have 
By  magot-pies  and  choughs  and  rooks  brought  forth 
The  secret'st  man  of  blood.  —  What  is  the  night  ? 
Lady  Macbeth.    Almost  at  odds  with  morning,  w! 
is  which. 


ioo  Macbeth  [Act  in 

Macbeth.    How  say'st  thou,  that  Macduff  denies  his 

,  person 
At  our  great  bidding  ? 

Lady  Macbeth.  Did  you  send  to  him,  sir  ? 

Macbeth.    I  hear  it  by  the  way,  but  I  will  send  ;       130 
There  's  not  a  one  of  them  but  in  his  house 
I  keep  a  servant  fee'd.     I  will  to-morrow, 
And  betimes  I  will,  to  the  weird  sisters  ; 
More  shall  they  speak,  for  now  I  am  bent  to  know, 
By  the  worst  means,  the  worst.     For  mine  own  good 
All  causes  shall  give  way ;  I  am  in  blood 
Stepp'd  in  so  far  that,  should  I  wade  no  more, 
Returning  were  as  tedious  as  go  o'er. 
Strange  things  I  have  in  head  that  will  to  hand, 
Which  must  be  acted  ere  they  may  be  scann'd.  140 

Lady  Macbeth.    You  lack  the  season  of  all  natures, 
sleep. 

Macbeth.    Come,  we  '11  to  sleep.    My  strange  and  self- 
abuse 

Is  the  initiate  fear  that  wants  hard  use  ; 
We  are  yet  but  young  in  deed.  [Exeunt.  /^- 


SCENE   V.     A  Heath 
Thunder.     Enter  the  three  Witches,  meeting  HECATE 

First  Witch.  Why,  how  now,  Hecate  !  you  look  angerly. 

Hecate.    Have  I  not  reason,  beldams  as  you  are, 
Saucy  and  overbold  ?     How  did  you  dare 
To  trade  and  traffic  with  Macbeth 


•  -v     ,- 


Scene  V]  Macbeth 


101 


In  riddles  and  affairs  of  death  ; 

And  I,  the  mistress  of  your  charms, 

The  close  contriver  of  all  harms, 

Was  never  call'd  to  bear  my  part, 

Or  show  the  glory  of  our  art  ? 

And,  which  is  worse,  all  you  have  done  10 

Hath  been  but  for  a  wayward  son, 

Spiteful  and  wrathful,  who,  as  others  do, 

Loves  for  his  own  ends,  not  for  you. 

But  make  amends  now  ;  get  you  gone, 

And  at  the  pit  of  Acheron 

Meet  me  i'  the  morning  ;  thither  he 

Will  come  to  know  his  destiny. 

Your  vessels  and  your  spells  provide, 

Your  charms  and  every  thing  beside. 

I  am  for  the  air  ;  this  night  I  '11  spend  20 

Unto  a  dismal  and  a  fatal  end. 

Great  business  must  be  wrought  ere  noon. 

Upon  the  corner  of  the  moon 

There  hangs  a  vaporous  drop  profound, 

I  '11  catch  it  ere  it  come  to  ground  ; 

And  that,  distill'd  by  magic  sleights, 

Shall  raise  such  artificial  sprites 

As  by  the  strength  of  their  illusion 

Shall  draw  him  on  to  his  confusion. 

He  shall  spurn  fate,  scorn  death,  and  bear  30 

His  hopes  'bove  wisdom,  grace,  and  fear  ; 

And  you  all  know  security 

Is  mortals'  chiefest  enemy. 


Hfe  i 


102  Macbeth  [Act  in 

[Music  and  a   song  within :   '  Come   away,  come 

away,'  etc. 

Hark !     I  am  call'd  ;  my  little  spirit,  see, 
Sits  in  a  foggy  cloud,  and  stays  for  me.  [Exit. 

First  Witch.    Come,  let 's  make  haste  ;  she  '11  soon  be 
back  again.  [Exeunt. 

SCENE   VI.     Forres.     The  Palace 
Enter  LENNOX  and  another  Lord 

Lennox.   My   former   speeches    have    but   hit  your 

thoughts, 

Which  can  interpret  farther ;  only  I  say 
Things   have   been    strangely   borne.      The    gracious 

Duncan 

Was  pitied  of  Macbeth  —  marry,  he  was  dead  ; 
And  the  right-valiant  Banquo  walk'd  too  late, 
Whom,  you  may  say,  if  't  please  you,  Fleance  kill'd, 
For  Fleance  fled  ;  men  must  not  walk  too  late. 
Who  cannot  want  the  thought,  how  monstrous 
It  was  for  Malcolm  and  for  Donalbain 
To  kill  their  gracious  father  ?  damned  fact !  10 

How  it  did  grieve  Macbeth  !  did  he  not  straight 
In  pious  rage  the  two  delinquents  tear, 
That  were  the  slaves  of  drink  and  thralls  of  sleep  ? 
Was  not  that  nobly  done  ?     Ay,  and  wisely  too  ; 
For  't  would  have  anger'd  any  heart  alive 
To  hear  the  men  deny  't.     So  that,  I  say, 
He  has  borne  all  things  well ;  and  I  do  think 


Scene  VI]  Macbeth 


103 


That  had  he  Duncan's  sons  under  his  key  — 

As,  an  't  please  heaven,  he  shall  not  —  they  should  find 

What  't  were  to  kill  a  father  ;  so  should  Fleance.         20 

But,  peace  !  for  from  broad  words,  and  'cause  he  fail'd 

His  presence  at  the  tyrant's  feast,  I  hear 

Macduff  lives  in  disgrace.     Sir,  can  you  tell 

Where  he  bestows  himself  ? 

Lord.  The  son  of  Duncan, 

From  whom  this  tyrant  holds  the  due  of  birth, 
Lives  in  the  English  court,  and  is  receiv'd 
Of  the  most  pious  Edward  with  such  grace 
That  the  malevolence  of  fortune  nothing 
Takes  from  his  high  respect.     Thither  Macduff 
Is  gone  to  pray  the  holy  king,  upon  his  aid  30 

To  wake  Northumberland  and  warlike  Siward, 
That  by  the  help  of  these,  with  Him  above 
To  ratify  the  work,  we  may  again 
Give  to  our  tables  meat,  sleep  to  our  nights, 
Free  from  our  feasts  and  banquets  bloody  knives, 
Do  faithful  homage  and  receive  free  honours; 
All  which  we  pine  for  now.     And  this  report 
Hath  so  exasperate  the  king  that  he 
Prepares  for  some  attempt  of  war. 

Lennox.  Sent  he  to  Macduff  ? 

Lord.    He  did  ;  and  with  an  absolute  '  Sir,  not  I,'   40 
The  cloudy  messenger  turns  me  his  back, 
And  hums,  as  who  should  say  '  You  '11  rue  the  time 
That  clogs  me  with  this  answer.' 

Lennox.  And  that  well  might 


104  Macbeth  [Act  m 

Advise  him  to  a  caution,  to  hold  what  distance 
His  wisdom  can  provide.     Some  holy  angel 
Fly  to  the  court  of  England  and  unfold 
His  message  ere  he  come,  that  a  swift  blessing 
May  soon  return  to  this  our  suffering  country 
Under  a  hand  accurs'd  ! 

Lord.  I  '11  send  my  prayers  with  him. 

\Exeunt. 


THE  DUNSINANE  RANGE 


ACT   IV 

SCENE  I.     A  Cavern.     In  the  Middle,  a  Boiling 
Cauldron.     Thunder 

Enter  the  three  Witches 

First  Witch.    Thrice  the  brinded  cat  hath  mew'd. 
Second  Witch.    Thrice  and  once  the  hedge-pig  whin'd. 
Third  Witch.    Harpier  cries,  —  't  is  time,  't  is  time. 
First  Witch.    Round  about  the  cauldron  go ; 
In  the  poison'd  entrails  throw. 

105 


io6  Macbeth  [Act  IV 

I 
Toad,  that  under  cold  stone 

Days  and  nights  has  thirty-one 
Swelter'd  venom  sleeping  got, 
Boil  thou  first  i'  the  charmed  pot. 

All.    Double,  double  toil  and  trouble  ;  10 

Fire  burn  and  cauldron  bubble. 

Second  Witch.    Fillet  of  a  fenny  snake, 
In  the  cauldron  boil  and  bake  ; 
Eye  of  newt  and  toe  of  frog, 
Wool  of  bat  and  tongue  of  dog, 
Adder's  fork  and  blind-worm's  sting, 
Lizard's  leg  and  howlet's  wing, 
For  a  charm  of  powerful  trouble, 
Like  a  hell-broth  boil  and  bubble. 

All.    Double,  double  toil  and  trouble  ;  20 

Fire  burn  and  cauldron  bubble. 

Third  Witch.    Scale  of  dragon,  tooth  of  wolf, 
Witches'  mummy,  maw  and  gulf 
Of  the  ravin'd  salt-sea  shark, 
Root  of  hemlock  digg'd  i'  the  dark, 
Liver  of  blaspheming  Jew, 
Gall  of  goat,  and  slips  of  yew 
Sliver'd  in  the  moon's  eclipse, 
Nose  of  Turk  and  Tartar's  lips, 

Finger  of  birth-strangled  babe  30 

Ditch-deliver'd  by  a  drab, 
Make  the  gruel  thick  and  slab ; 
Add  thereto  a  tiger's  chaudron, 
For  the  ingredients  of  our  cauldron. 


Scene  i]  Macbeth  I0y 

All.    Double,  double  toil  and  trouble  ; 
Fire  burn  and  cauldron  bubble. 

Second  Witch.    Cool  it  with  a  baboon's  blood, 
Then  the  charm  is  firm  and  good. 

Enter  HECATE 

Hecate.    O,  well  done  !     I  commend  your  pains  ; 
And  every  one  shall  share  i'  the  gains :  40 

And  now  about  the  cauldron  sing, 
Like  elves  and  fairies  in  a  ring, 
Enchanting  all  that  you  put  in. 

\J\fusic  and  a  song:    'Black  spirits,'  etc.     Hecate 

retires. 

Second  Witch.    By  the  pricking  of  my  thumbs, 
Something  wicked  this  way  comes. 
Open,  locks, 
Whoever  knocks ! 

Enter  MACBETH 

Macbeth.    How  now,  you  secret,  black,  and  midnight 

hags ! 
What  is  't  you  do  ? 

All.  A  deed  without  a  name. 

Macbeth.    I  conjure  you,  by  that  which  you  profess, 
Howe'er  you  come  to  know  it,  answer  me :  51 

Though  you  untie  the  winds  and  let  them  fight 
Against  the  churches  ;  though  the  yesty  waves 
Confound  and  swallow  navigation  up ; 


io8  Macbeth  [Act  IV 

Though  bladed  corn  be  lodg'd  and  trees  blown  down  ; 

Though  castles  topple  on  their  warders'  heads  ; 

Though  palaces  and  pyramids  do  slope 

Their  heads  to  their  foundations ;  though  the  treasure 

Of  nature's  germens  tumble  all  together, 

Even  till  destruction  sicken  ;  answer  me  60 

To  what  I  ask  you. 

First  Witch.  Speak. 

Second  Witch.  Demand. 

Third  Witch.  We  '11  answer. 

First  Witch.    Say,  if  thou  'dst  rather  hear  it  from  our 

mouths, 
Or  from  our  masters. 

Macbeth.  Call  'em  ;  let  me  see  'em. 

First  Witch.    Pour  in  sow's  blood,  that  hath  eaten 
Her  nine  farrow ;  grease  that 's  sweaten 
From  the  murtherer's  gibbet  throw 
Into  the  flame. 

All.  Come,  high  or  low  ; 

Thyself  and  office  deftly  show  ! 

Thunder.     First  Apparition  :  an  armed  Head 

Macbeth.     Tell  me,  thou  unknown  power.  — 
First  Witch.  He  knows  thy  thought ; 

Hear  his  speech,  but  say  thou  nought.  70 

First  Apparition.      Macbeth  !    Macbeth  !    Macbeth ! 

beware  Macduff ;  I    u    _—  v        L)  M« - 

Beware   the    thane    of    Fife.      1  Dismiss)  me^   enough. 

\  [Descends. 


Scene  i]  Macbeth  109 

Macbeth.     Whate'er   thou  art,  for  thy  good  caution 

thanks, 

Thou  hast  harp'd  my  fear  aright ;  but  one  word  more,  — 
First  Witch.     He  will  not  be  commanded;   here  's 

another, 
More  potent  than  the  first. 

Thunder.     Second  Apparition  :  a  bloody  Child 

Second  Apparition.      Macbeth  !  Macbeth  !  Macbeth  ! 

Macbeth.     Had  I  three  ears,  I  'd  hear  thee. 

Second  Apparition.     Be  bloody,  bold,  and  resolute  ; 

laugh  to  scorn 

The  power  of  man,  for  none  of  woman  born  So 

Shall  harm  Macbeth.  [Descends. 

Macbeth.  Then  live,  Macduff ;  what  need  I  fear  of  thee  ? 
But  yet  I  '11  make  assurance  double  sure, 
And  take  a  bond  of  fate ;  thou  shalt  not  live, 
That  I  may  tell  pale-hearted  fear  it  lies, 
And  sleep  in  spite  of  thunder.  — 

Thunder.     Third  Apparition  :  a   Child  crowned,  with  a 
tree  in  his  hand 

What  is  this, 

That  rises  like  the  issue  of  a  king, 
And  wears  upon  his  baby  brow  the  round 
And  top  of  sovereignty  ? 

All.  Listen,  but  speak  not  to  't. 

Third  Apparition.     Be  lion-mettled,  proud,  and  take 
no  care  9° 


no  Macbeth  [Act  IV 

Who  chafes,  who  frets,  or  where  conspirers  are  ; 

Macbeth  shall  never  vanquish'd  be  until 

Great  Birnam  wood  to  high  Dunsinane  hill 

Shall  come  against  him.  [.Descends. 

Macbeth.  That  will  never  be. 

Who  can  impress  the  forest,  bid  the  tree 
Unfix  his  earth-bound  root  ?     Sweet  bodements  !  good  ! 
Rebellion's  head,  rise  never,  till  the  wood 
Of  Birnam  rise,  and  our  high-plac'd  Macbeth 
Shall  live  the  lease  of  nature,  pay  his  breath 
To  time  and  mortal  custom.     Yet  my  heart  100 

Throbs  to  know  one  thing :  tell  me,  —  if  your  art 
Can  tell  so  much, —  shall  Banquo's  issue  ever 
Reign  in  this  kingdom  ? 

AIL  Seek  to  know  no  more. 

Macbeth.     I  will  be  satisfied  ;  deny  me  this, 
And  an  eternal  curse  fall  on  you  !     Let  me  know  — 
Why  sinks  that  cauldron  ?  and  what  noise  is  this  ? 

\Hautboys. 

First  Witch.     Show ! 

Second  Witch.     Show ! 

Third  Witch.     Show ! 

All.     Show  his  eyes,  and  grieve  his  heart;  nc 

Come  like  shadows,  so  depart. 

A  show  of  eight  Kings,  the  last  with  a  glass  in  his  hand ; 
Banquo's  Ghost  following 

Macbeth.     Thou  art  too  like  the  spirit  of   Banquo ; 
downl 


Scene  I]  Macbeth  i  ii 

Thy  crown  does  sear  mine  eyeballs.  —  And  thy  hair, 

Thou  other  gold-bound  brow,  is  like  the  first.  — 

A  third  is  like  the  former.  —  Filthy  hags  ! 

Why    do    you    show    me    this  ?  —  A    fourth  !  —  Start, 
eyes ! — 

What,    will    the    line    stretch    out    to    the    crack    of 
doom  ?  — 

Another  yet !  —  A  seventh  !  —  I'll  see  no  more.  — 

And  yet  the  eighth  appears,  who  bears  a  glass 

Which  shows  me  many  more  ;  and  some  I  see  120 

That  twofold  balls  and  treble  sceptres  carry. 

Horrible  sight !  —  Now  I  see  't  is  true  ; 

For  the  blood-bolter'd  Banquo  smiles  upon  me, 

And  points  at  them  for  his.  —  [Apparitions  vanish. 

What,  is  this  so  ? 
First  Witch.     Ay,  sir,  all  this  is  so  ;  but  why 

Stands  Macbeth  thus  amazedly  ? 

Come,  sisters,  cheer  we  up  his  sprights, 

And  show  the  best  of  our  delights. 

I  '11  charm  the  air  to  give  a  sound, 

While  you  perform  your  antic  round,  13° 

That  this  great  king  may  kindly  say 

Our  duties  did  his  welcome  pay. 

Music.     The  Witches  dance,  and  then  vanish,  with 

Hecate. 

Macbeth.     Where  are  they  ?     Gone  ?     Let  this  perni- 
cious hour 

Stand  aye  accursed  in  the  calendar !  — 

Come  in,  without  there  1 


1 1 2  Macbeth  [Act  IV 

Enter  LENNOX 

Lennox.  What  's  your  grace's  will  ? 

Macbeth.     Saw  you  the  weird  sisters  ? 

Lennox.  No,  my  lord. 

Macbeth.     Came  they  not  by  you  ? 

Lennox.  No  indeed,  my  lord 

Macbeth.  Infected  be  the  air  whereon  they  ride, 
And  damn'd  all  those  that  trust  them  !  —  I  did  hear 
The  galloping  of  horse  ;  who  was  't  came  by  ?  140 

Lennox.     'T  is  two  or  three,  my  lord,  that  bring  you 

word 
Macduff  is  fled  to  England. 

Macbeth.  Fled  to  England  ! 

Lennox.     Ay,  my  good  lord. 

Macbeth.     \Aside  ]  Time,  thou  anticipat'st  my  dread 

exploits ; 

The  flighty  purpose  never  is  o'ertook 
Unless  the  deed  go  with  it.     From  this  moment 
The  very  firstlings  of  my  heart  shall  be 
The  firstlings  of  my  hand.     And  even  now, 
To  crown  my  thoughts  with  acts,  be  it  thought  and  done ; 
The  castle  of  Macduff  I  will  surprise,  150 

Seize  upon  Fife,  give  to  the  edge  o'  the  sword 
His  wife,  his  babes,  and  all  unfortunate  souls 
That  trace  him  in  his  line.     No  boasting  like  a  fool ; 
This  deed  I  '11  do  before  this  purpose  cdol. 
But  no  more  sights  !  —  Where  are  these  gentlemen  ? 
Come,  bring  me  where  they  are.  \Exeunt. 


Scene  II]  Macbeth  nj 

SCENE  II.      Fife.     A  Room  in  Macduff 's    Castle 
Enter  LADY  MACDUFF,  her  Son,  and  Ross 

Lady  Macduff.    What  had  he  done,  to  make  him  fly  the 
land? 

Ross.    You  must  have  patience,  madam. 

Lady  Macduff.  He  had  none  ; 

His  flight  was  madness.     When  our  actions  do  not, 
Our  fears  do  make  us  traitors. 

Ross.  You  know  not 

Whether  it  was  his  wisdom  or  his  fear. 

Lady  Macduff.    Wisdom !  to  leave  his  wife,  to  leave 

his  babes, 

His  mansion  and  his  titles,  in  a  place 
From  whence  himself  does  fly  ?     He  loves  us  not, 
He  wants  the  natural  touch  ;  for  the  poor  wren, 
The  most  diminutive  of  birds,  will  fight,  ro 

Her  young  ones  in  her  nest,  against  the  owl. 
All  is  the  fear,  and  nothing  is  the  love ; 
As  little  is  the  wisdom,  where  the  flight 
So  runs  against  all  reason. 

Ross.  My  dearest  coz, 

I  pray  you,  school  yourself ;  but  for  your  husband, 
He  is  noble,  wise,  judicious,  and  best  knows 
The    fits    o'   the    season.      I    dare    not   speak    much 

further, 

But  cruel  are  the  times  when  we  are  traitors 
And  do  not  know  ourselves ;  when  we  hold  rumour 

MACBETH  —  8 


114  Macbeth  [Act  IV 

From  what  we  fear,  yet  know  not  what  we  fear,  20 

But  float  upon  a  wild  and  violent  sea 

Each  way  and  move.     I  take  my  leave  of  you ; 

Shall  not  be  long  but  I'll  be  here  again. 

Things  at  the  worst  will  cease,  or  else  climb  upward 

To  what  they  were  before.     My  pretty  cousin, 

Blessing  upon  you ! 

Lady  Mac  duff.    Father 'd  he  is,  and  yet  he  's  father 
less. 

Ross.    I  am  so  much  a  fool,  should  I  stay  longer, 
It  would  be  my  disgrace  and  your  discomfort ; 
I  take  my  leave  at  once.  \Exit. 

Lady  Macduff.  Sirrah,  your  father  's  dead  :  30 

And  what  will  you  do  now  ?     How  will  you  live  ? 

Son.   As  birds  do,  mother. 

Lady  Macduff.  What,  with  worms  and  flies  ? 

Son.    With  what  I  get,  I  mean  ;  and  so  do  they. 

Lady  Macduff.    Poor  bird  1  thou  'dst  never  fear  the 

net  nor  lime, 
The  pitfall  nor  the  gin. 

Son.   Why  should  I,  mother?     Poor  birds  they  are. 

not  set  for. 
My  father  is  not  dead,  for  all  your  saying. 

Lady  Macduff.    Yes,  he  is  dead  ;  how  wilt  thou  do 
for  a  father  ? 

Son.    Nay,  how  will  you  do  for  a  husband  ? 

Lady  Macduff.   Why,  I   can   buy  me  twenty  at  any 
market.  40 

Son.   Then  you  '11  buy  'em  to  sell  again. 


Scene  II]  Macbeth  I  IT 

Lady  Macduff.   Thou  speak'st  with  all  thy  wit,  and 

yet,  i'  faith, 
With  wit  enough  for  thee. 

Son.   Was  my  father  a  traitor,  mother  ? 

Lady  Macduff.   Ay,  that  he  was. 

Son,   What  is  a  traitor  ? 

Lady  Macduff.    Why,  one  that  swears  and  lies. 

Son.    And  be  all  traitors  that  do  so  ? 

Lady  Macduff.  Every  one  that  does  so  is  a  traitor, 
and  must  be  hanged.  5o 

Son.    And  must  they  all  be  hanged  that  swear  and  lie  ? 

Lady  Macduff.    Every  one. 

Son.    Who  must  hang  them  ? 

Lady  Macduff.    Why,  the  honest  men. 

Son.  Then  the  liars  and  swearers  are  fools,  for  there 
are  liars  and  swearers  enow  to  beat  the  honest  men  and 
hang  up  them. 

Lady  Macduff.  Now,  God  help  thee,  poor  monkey ! 
But  how  wilt  thou  do  for  a  father  ?  59 

Son.  If  he  were  dead,  you  'd  weep  for  him ;  if  you 
would  not,  it  were  a  good  sign  that  I  should  quickly 
have  a  new  father. 

Lady  Macduff.    Poor  prattler,  how  thou  talk'st ! 

Enter  a  Messenger 

Messenger.    Bless  you,  fair  dame  !     I  am  not  to  you 

known, 

Though  in  your  state  of  honour  I  am  perfect. 
I  doubt  some  danger  does  approach  you  nearly. 


u6 


Macbeth  [Act  iv 


If  you  will  take  a  homely  man's  advice, 

Be  not  found  here  ;  hence,  with  your  little  ones. 

To  fright  you  thus,  methinks  I  am  too  savage  ; 

To  do  worse  to  you  were  fell  cruelty,  70 

Which   is   too   nigh  your  person.      Heaven   preserve 

you! 
I  dare  abide  no  longer.  {Exit. 

Lady  Macduff.  Whither  should  I  fly  ? 

I  have  done  no  harm.     But  I  remember  now 
I  am  in  this  earthly  world,  where  to  do  harm 
Is  often  laudable,  to  do  good  sometime 
Accounted  dangerous  folly ;  why  then,  alas, 
Do  I  put  up  that  womanly  defence, 
To  say  I  have  done  no  harm  ?  — 

Enter  Murderers 

What  are  these  faces  ? 
First  Murderer.   Where  is  your  husband  ? 
Lady  Macduff.    I  hope,  in  no  place  so  unsanctified  So 
Where  such  as  thou  mayst  find  him. 

First  Murderer.  He  's  a  traitor. 

Son.   Thou  liest,  thou  shag-hair'd  villain  ! 

First  Murderer.  What,  you  egg  ! 

[Stabbing  him. 
Young  fry  of  treachery  1 

Son.  He  has  kill'd  me,  mother ; 

Run  away,  I  pray  you  1  [Dies. 

Exit  Lady  Macduff,  crying  '  Murther  ! ' 
[Exeunt Murderers,  following  her- 


Scene  in]  Macbeth  117 

SCENE  III.     England.     Before  the  King's  Palace 
Enter  MALCOLM  and  MACDUFF 

Malcolm.   Let  us  seek  out  some  desolate  shade,  and 

there 
Weep  our  sad  bosoms  empty. 

Macduff.  Let  us  rather 

Hold  fast  the  mortal  sword,  and  like  good  men 
Bestride  our  down-fallen  birthdom.     Each  new  morn 
New  widows  howl,  new  orphans  cry,  new  sorrows 
Strike  heaven  on  the  face,  that  it  resounds 
As  if  it  felt  with  Scotland  and  yell'd  out 
Like  syllable  of  dolour. 

Malcolm.  What  I  believe,  I  '11  wail ; 

What  know,  believe  ;  and  what  I  can  redress, 
As  I  shall  find  the  time  to  friend,  I  will.  10 

What  you  have  spoke,  it  may  be  so  perchance. 
This  tyrant,  whose  sole  name  blisters  our  tongues, 
Was  once  thought  honest :  you  have  lov'd  him  well ; 
He  hath  not  touch 'd  you  yet.     I  am  young  ;  but  some- 
thing 

You  may  deserve  of  him  through  me,  and  wisdom 
To  offer  up  a  weak  poor  innocent  lamb 
To  appease  an  angry  god. 

Macduff.    I  am  not  treacherous. 

Malcolm.  But  Macbeth  is. 

A  good  and  virtuous  nature  may  recoil 
In  an  imperial  charge.    But  I  shall  crave  your  pardon  ;  20 


n8  Macbeth  [Act  IV 

That  which  you  are  my  thoughts  cannot  transpose. 
Angels  are  bright  still,  though  the  brightest  fell ; 
Though  all  things  foul  would  wear  the  brows  of  grace, 
Yet  grace  must  still  look  so. 

Macduff.  I  have  lost  my  hopes. 

Malcolm.   Perchance  even  there  where  I  did  find  my 

doubts. 

Why  in  that  rawness  left  you  wife  and  child, 
Those  precious  motives,  those  strong  knots  of  love, 
Without  leave-taking  ?     I  pray  you, 
Let  not  my  jealousies  be  your  dishonours, 
But  mine  own  safeties  ;  you  may  be  rightly  just,  3* 

Whatever  I  shall  think. 

Macduff.  Bleed,  bleed,  poor  country  1 

Great  tyranny,  lay  thou  thy  basis  sure, 
For  goodness   dare   not  check   thee  1   wear  thou  thy 

wrongs ; 

The  title  is  affeer'd  !  —  Fare  thee  well,  lord  ; 
I  would  not  be  the  villain  that  thou  think'st 
For  the  whole  space  that 's  in  the  tyrant's  grasp, 
And  the  rich  East  to  boot. 

Malcolm.  Be  not  offended ; 

I  speak  not  as  in  absolute  fear  of  you. 
I  think  our  country  sinks  beneath  the  yoke ; 
It  weeps,  it  bleeds,  and  each  new  day  a  gash  40 

Is  added  to  her  wounds.     I  think  withal 
There  would  be  hands  uplifted  in  my  right, 
And  here  from  gracious  England  have  I  offer 
Of  goodly  thousands  ;  but  for  all  this, 


Scene  III]  Macbeth  119 

When  I  shall  tread  upon  the  tyrant's  head 
Or  wear  it  on  my  sword,  yet  my  poor  country 
Shall  have  more  vices  than  it  had  before, 
More  suffer,  and  more  sundry  ways  than  ever, 
By  him  that  shall  succeed. 

j/dtu'/yfc  What  should  he  be  ? 

Malcolm.    It  is  myself  I  mean,  in  whom  I  know        50 
A.11  the  particulars  of  vice  so  grafted 
That,  when  they  shall  be  open'd,  black  Macbeth 
Will  seem  as  pure  as  snow,  and  the  poor  state 
Esteem  him  as  a  lamb,  being  compar'd 
With  my  confineless  harms. 

Macduff.  Not  in  the  legions 

Of  horrid  hell  can  come  a  devil  more  damn'd 
In  evils  to  top  Macbeth. 

Malcolm.  I  grant  him  bloody, 

Luxurious,  avaricious,  false,  deceitful, 
Sudden,  malicious,  smacking  of  every  sin 
That  has  a  name ;  but  there  's  no  bottom,  none,  60 

In  my  voluptuousness.     Your  wives,  your  daughters, 
Your  matrons  and  your  maids,  could  not  fill  up 
The  cistern  of  my  lust,  and  my  desire 
A-ll  continent  impediments  would  o'erbear 
That  did  oppose  my  will.     Better  Macbeth 
Than  such  an  one  to  reign. 

Macduff.  Boundless  intemperance 

In  nature  is  a  tyranny ;  it  hath  been 
The  untimely  emptying  of  the  happy  throne, 
And  fall  of  many  kings.     But  fear  not  yet 


I20  Macbeth  [Act  IV 

To  take  upon  you  what  is  yours  ;  you  may 
Convey  your  pleasures  in  a  spacious  plenty, 
And  yet  seem  cold,  the  time  you  may  so  hoodwink. 
We  have  willing  dames  enough.     There  cannot  be 
That  vulture  in  you  to  devour  so  many 
As  will  to  greatness  dedicate  themselves, 
Finding  it  so  inclin'd. 

Malcolm.  With  this  there  grows 

In  my  most  ill-compos'd  affection  such 
A  stanchless  avarice  that,  were  I  king, 
I  should  cut  off  the  nobles  for  their  lands, 
Desire  his  jewels  and  this  other's  house ;  So 

And  my  more-having  would  be  as  a  sauce 
To  make  me  hunger  more,  that  I  should  forge 
Quarrels  unjust  against  the  good  and  loyal, 
Destroying  them  for  wealth. 

Macduff.  This  avarice 

Sticks  deeper,  grows  with  more  pernicious  root 
Than  summer-seeming  lust,  and  it  hath  been 
The  sword  of  our  slain  kings :  yet  do  not  fear ; 
Scotland  hath  foisons  to  fill  up  your  will, 
Of  your  mere  own.     All  these  are  portable, 
With  other  graces  weigh'd.  9° 

Malcolm.    But  I  have  none ;  the  king-becoming  graces, 
As  justice,  verity,  temperance,  stableness, 
Bounty,  perseverance,  mercy,  lowliness, 
Devotion,  patience,  courage,  fortitude, 
I  have  no  relish  of  them,  but  abound 
In  the  division  of  each  several  crime, 


Scene  III]  Macbeth  121 

Acting  it  many  ways.     Nay,  had  I  power,  I  should 
Pour  the  sweet  milk  of  concord  into  hell, 
Uproar  the  universal  peace,  confound 
All  unity  on  earth. 

Macduff.  O  Scotland,  Scotland  !  100 

Malcolm.    If  such  a  one  be  fit  to  govern,  speak ; 
I  am  as  I  have  spoken. 

Macduff.  Fit  to  govern  ! 

No,  not  to  live.  —  O  nation  miserable  ! 
With  an  untitled  tyrant  bloody-scepter'd, 
When  shalt  thou  see  thy  wholesome  days  again, 
Since  that  the  truest  issue  of  thy  throne 
By  his  own  interdiction  stands  accurs'd 
And  does  blaspheme  his  breed  ?  —  Thy  royal  father 
Was  a  most  sainted  king  ;  the  queen  that  bore  thee, 
Oftener  upon  her  knees  than  on  her  feet,  no 

Died  every  day  she  liv'd.  —  Fare  thee  well ! 
These  evils  thou  repeat'st  upon  thyself 
Have  banish'd  me  from  Scotland.  —  O  my  breast, 
Thy  hope  ends  here  ! 

Malcolm.  Macduff,  this  noble  passion, 

Child  of  integrity,  hath  from  my  soul 
Wip'd  the  black  scruples,  reconcil'd  my  thoughts 
To  thy  good  truth  and  honour.     Devilish  Macbeth 
By  many  of  these  trains  hath  sought  to  win  me 
Into  his  power,  and  modest  wisdom  plucks  me 
From  over-credulous  haste  ;  but  God  above  120 

Deal  between  thee  and  me  !  for  even  now 
I  put  myself  to  thy  direction  and 


122  Macbeth 

Unspeak  mine  own  detraction,  here  abjure 
The  taints  and  blames  I  laid  upon  myself, 
For  strangers  to  my  nature.     I  am  yet 
Unknown  to  woman,  never  was  forsworn, 
Scarcely  have  coveted  what  was  mine  own, 
At  no  time  broke  my  faith,  would  not  betray 
The  devil  to  his  fellow,  and  delight 
No  less  in  truth  than  life  ;  my  first  false  speaking       130 
Was  this  upon  myself.     What  I  am  truly 
Is  thine  and  my  poor  country's  to  command  ; 
Whither  indeed,  before  thy  here-approach, 
Old  Siward,  with  ten  thousand  warlike  men, 
Already  at  a  point,  was  setting  forth. 
Now  we  '11  together,  and  the  chance  of  goodness 
Be  like  our  warranted  quarrel !     Why  are  you  silent  ? 
Macduff.    Such  welcome   and   unwelcome  things  at 

once 
'T  is  hard  to  reconcile. 

Enter  a  Doctor 

Malcolm.   Well,  more  anon.  —  Comes  the  king  forth, 
I  pray  you  ?  ,40 

Doctor.  Ay,  sir ;  there  are  a  crew  of  wretched  souls 
That  stay  his  cure.     Their  malady  convinces 
The  great  assay  of  art ;  but  at  his  touch, 
Such  sanctity  hath  heaven  given  his  hand, 
They  presently  amend. 

Malcolm.  I  thank  you,  doctor.     [Exit  Doctor. 

Macduff.   What  's  the  disease  he  means  ? 


HI  Macbeth  123 

Malcolm.  'T  is  call'd  the  evil ; 

A  most  miraculous  work  in  this  good  king, 
Which  often,  since  my  here-remain  in  England, 
I  have  seen  him  do.     How  he  solicits  heaven, 
Himself  best  knows  ;  but  strangely-visited  people,      150 
All  swoln  and  ulcerous,  pitiful  to  the  eye, 
The  mere  despair  of  surgery,  he  cures, 
Hanging  a  golden  stamp  about  their  necks, 
Put  on  with  holy  prayers ;  and  't  is  spoken, 
To  the  succeeding  royalty  he  leaves 
The  healing  benediction.     With  this  strange  virtue, 
He  hath  a  heavenly  gift  of  prophecy, 
And  sundry  blessings  hang  about  his  throne 
That  speak  him  full  of  grace. 


Enter  Ross 

Macduff.  See,  who  comes  here  ? 

Malcolm.   My  countryman  ;  but  yet  I  know  him  not. 

Macduff.   My  ever-gentle  cousin,  welcome  hither.   161 

Malcolm.   I  know  him  now.     Good  God,  betimes  re- 
move 
The  means  that  makes  us  strangers ! 

Ross.  Sir,  amen. 

Macduff.    Stands  Scotland  where  it  did  ? 

Ross.  Alas,  poor  country  I 

Almost  afraid'  to  know  itself.     It  cannot 
Be  call'd  our  mother,  but  our  grave  ;  where  nothing, 
But  who  knows  nothing,  is  once  seen  to  smile  ; 
Where  sighs  and  groans  and  shrieks  that  rent  the  air 


124 


Macbeth  [Act  IV 


Are  made,  not  mark'd  ;  where  violent  sorrow  seems 
A  modern  ecstasy ;  the  dead  man's  knell  170 

Is  there  scarce  ask'd  for  who  ;  and  good  men's  lives 
Expire  before  the  flowers  in  their  caps, 
Dying  or  ere  they  sicken. 

Macduff.  O,  relation 

Too  nice,  and  yet  too  true ! 

Malcolm.  What  's  the  newest  grief  ? 

Ross.    That  of  an  hour's  age  doth  hiss  the  speaker ; 
Each  minute  teems  a  new  one. 

Macduff.  How  does  my  wife  ? 

Ross.   Why,  well. 

Macduff.  And  all  my  children  ? 

Ross.  Well  too. 

Macduff.    The  tyrant  has  not  batter'd  at  their  peace  ? 

Ross.    No  ;  they  were  well  at  peace  when  I  did  leave 
'em. 

Macduff.    Be  not  a   niggard  of  your   speech  ;    how 
goes  't?  iSc 

Ross.   When  I  came  hither  to  transport  the  tidings, 
Which  I  have  heavily  borne,  there  ran  a  rumour 
Of  many  worthy  fellows  that  were  out ; 
Which  was  to  my  belief  witness'd  the  rather, 
For  that  I  saw  the  tyrant's  power  a-foot. 
Now  is  the  time  of  help  ;  your  eye  in  Scotland 
Would  create  soldiers,  make  our  women  fight, 
To  doff  their  dire  distresses. 

Malcolm.  Be  't  their  comfort 

We  are  coming  thither.     Gracious  England  hath 


Scene  III]  Macbeth  125 

Lent  us  good  Siward  and  ten  thousand  men  ;  190 

An  older  and  a  better  soldier  none 
That  Christendom  gives  out. 

Ross.  Would  I  could  answer 

This  comfort  with  the  like  !     But  I  have  words 
That  would  be  howl'd  out  in  the  desert  air, 
Where  hearing  should  not  latch  them. 

Macduff.  What  concern  they  ? 

The  general  cause  ?  or  is  it  a  fee-grief 
Due  to  some  single  breast  ? 

Ross.  No  mind  that  's  honest 

But  in  it  shares  some  woe,  though  the  main  part 
Pertains  to  you  alone. 

Macduff.  If  it  be  mine, 

Keep  it  not  from  me,  quickly  let  me  have  it.  200 

Ross.   Let    not    your   ears    despise    my   tongue    for 

ever, 

W7hich  shall  possess  them  with  the  heaviest  sound 
That  ever  yet  they  heard. 

Macduff.  Hum  !  I  guess  at  it. 

Ross.   Your  castle  is  surpris'd,  your  wife  and  babes 
Savagely  slaughter'd  ;  to  relate  the  manner 
Were,  on  the  quarry  of  these  murther'd  deer, 
To  add  the  death  of  you. 

Malcolm.  Merciful  heaven  !  — 

What,  man  !  ne'er  pull  your  hat  upon  your  brows, 
Give  sorrow  words  ;  the  grief  that  does  not  speak 
Whispers  the  o'er-fraught  heart  and  bids  it  break.  210 

Macduff.    My  children  too  ? 


I26  Macbeth  [Act  iv 

Wife,  children,  servants,  all 


That  could  be  found. 

Macduff.  And  I  must  be  from  thence  !  — 

My  wife  kill'd  too  ? 

Ross.  I  have  said. 

Malcolm.  Be  comforted  ; 

Let  's  make  us  medicines  of  our  great  revenge, 
To  cure  this  deadly  grief. 

Macduff.    He  has  no  children.  —  All  my  pretty  ones  ? 
Did  you  say  all  ?  —  O  hell-kite  !  —  All  ? 
What,  all  my  pretty  chickens  and  their  dam 
At  one  fell  swoop  ? 

Malcolm.   Dispute  it  like  a  man. 

Macduff.  I  shall  do  so  ;     220 

But  I  must  also  feel  it  as  a  man. 
I  cannot  but  remember  such  things  were, 
That  were  most  precious  to  me.  —  Did  heaven  look  on, 
And  would  not  take  their  part  ?     Sinful  Macduff, 
They  were  all  struck  for  thee  !  naught  that  I  am, 
Not  for  their  own  demerits,  but  for  mine, 
Fell  slaughter  on  their  souls.     Heaven  rest  them  now  ! 

Malcolm.   Be  this  the  whetstone  of  your  sword.     Let 

grief 
Convert  to  anger  ;  blunt  not  the  heart,  enrage  it. 

Macduff.   O,   I   could   play   the   woman   with    mine 
eyes,  230 

And  braggart  with  my  tongue  !  —  But,  gentle  heavens, 
Cut  short  all  intermission  ;  front  to  front 
Bring  thou  this  fiend  of  Scotland  and  myself  ; 


Scene  ill]  Macbeth  127 

Within  my  sword's  length  set  him ;  if  he  scape, 
Heaven  forgive  him  too  ! 

Malcolm.  This  tune  goes  manly. 

Come,  go  we  to  the  king ;  our  power  is  ready, 
Our  lack  is  nothing  but  our  leave.     Macbeth 
Is  ripe  for  shaking,  and  the  powers  above 
Put  on  their  instruments.      Receive  what  cheer  you 

may; 

The  night  is  long  that  never  finds  the  day.  240 

[Exeunt. 


DUNKELD  AND   REMNANT  OF  BlRNAM   WOOL* 


ACT   V 

SCENE  I.     Dunsinane.     A  Room  in  the  Castle 

Enter  a  Doctor  of  Physic  and  a  Waiting  Gentlewoman 

Doctor.  I  have  two  nights  watched  with  you,  but 
can  perceive  no  truth  in  your  report.  When  was  it 
she  last  walked  ? 

Gentlewoman.  Since  his  majesty  went  into  the 
field,  I  have  seen  her  rise  from  her  bed,  throw  her 
nightgown  upon  her,  unlock  her  closet,  take  forth 
paper,  fold  it,  write  upon  't,  read  it,  afterwards  seal 
it,  and  again  return  to  bed ;  yet  all  this  while  in  a 
most  fast  sleep. 

128 


Scene  I]  Macbeth  129 

Doctor.   A  great  perturbation  in  nature,  to  receive  10 
at  once  the  benefit  of  sleep  and  do  the  effects  of 
watching!     In  this  slumbery  agitation,  besides  her 
walking  and  other  actual  performances,  what  at  any 
time  have  you  heard  her  say  ? 

Gentlewoman.  That,  sir,  which  I  will  not  report 
after  her. 

Doctor.  You  may  to  me,  and  't  is  most  meet  you 
should. 

Gentlewoman.  Neither  to  you  nor  any  one,  having 
no  witness  to  confirm  my  speech.  20 

Enter  LADY  MACBETH,  with  a  taper 

Lo  you,  here  she  comes  !    This  is  her  very  guise;  and, 
upon  my  life,  fast  asleep  !    Observe  her ;  stand  close. 

Doctor.   How  came  she  by  that  light  ? 

Gentlewoman.  Why,  it  stood  by  her  ;  she  has  light 
by  her  continually,  't  is  her  command. 

Doctor.    You  see,  her  eyes  are  open. 

Gentlewoman.   Ay,  but  their  sense  are  shut. 

Doctor.  What  is  it  she  does  now  ?  Look,  how  she 
rubs  her  hands. 

Gentlewoman.    It  is  an    accustomed   action   with  30 
her,  to  seem  thus  washing  her  hands  ;  I  have  known 
her  continue  in  this  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

Lady  Macbeth.    Yet  here  's  a  spot. 

Doctor.  Hark !  she  speaks ;  I  will  set  down  what 
comes  from  her,  to  satisfy  my  remembrance  the  more 
strongly. 

MACBETH  —  9 


130 


Macbeth  [Act  v 


Lady  Macbeth.  Out,  damned  spot !  out,  I  say !  — 
One,  two ;  why,  then  't  is  time  to  do  't.  —  Hell  is 
murky!  —  Fie,  my  lord,  fie  !  a  soldier,  and  afeard  ? 
What  need  we  fear  who  knows  it,  when  none  can  40 
call  our  power  to  account  ?  —  Yet  who  would  have 
thought  the  old  man  to  have  had  so  much  blood  in 
him  ? 

Doctor.    Do  you  mark  that  ? 

Lady  Macbeth.  The  thane  of  Fife  had  a  wife ; 
where  is  she  now?  —  What,  will  these  hands  ne'er 
be  clean  ?  —  No  more  o'  that,  my  lord,  no  more  o' 
that ;  you  mar  all  with  this  starting. 

Doctor.  Go  to,  go  to ;  you  have  known  what  you 
should  not.  50 

Gentlewoman.  She  has  spoke  what  she  should  not, 
I  am  sure  of  that;  heaven  knows  what  she  has 
known. 

Lady  Macbeth.  Here  's  the  smell  of  the  blood 
still ;  all  the  perfumes  of  Arabia  will  not  sweeten 
this  little  hand.  Oh,  oh,  oh  1 

Doctor.  What  a  sigh  is  there !  The  heart  is 
sorely  charged. 

Gentlewoman.  I  would  not  have  such  a  heart  in 
my  bosom  for  the  dignity  of  the  whole  body.  60 

Doctor.   Well,  well,  well,  — 

Gentlewoman.    Pray  God  it  be,  sir. 

Doctor.  This  disease  is  beyond  my  practice  ;  yet 
I  have  known  those  which  have  walked  in  their  sleep 
who  have  died  holily  in  their  beds. 


Scene  ii]  Macbeth  131 

Lady  Macbeth.  Wash  your  hands,  put  on  your 
nightgown  ;  look  not  so  pale.  —  I  tell  you  yet  again, 
Banquo  's  buried  ;  he  cannot  come  out  on  's  grave. 

Doctor.    Even  so? 

Lady  Macbeth.    To  bed,  to  bed !  there  's  knocking  70 
At  the  gate ;  come,  come,  come,  come,  give  me  your 
hand.     What 's  done  cannot  be  undone.     To  bed,  to 
bed,  to  bed !  [Exit. 

Doctor.   Will  she  go  now  to  bed  ? 

Gentlewoman.    Directly. 

Doctor.    Foul  whisperings  are  abroad.     Unnatural 

deeds 

Do  breed  unnatural  troubles ;  infected  minds 
To  their  deaf  pillows  will  discharge  their  secrets. 
More  needs  she  the  divine  than  the  physician.  — 
God,  God  forgive  us  all !  —  Look  after  her ;  Bo 

Remove  from  her  the  means  of  all  annoyance, 
And  still  keep  eyes  upon  her.     So,  good  night ; 
My  mind  she  has  mated,  and  amaz'd  my  sight. 
[  think,  but  dare  not  speak. 

Gentlewoman.  Good  night,  good  doctor. 

[Exeunt. 

SCENE   II.      The  Country  near  Dunsinane 
Drum    and    colour.      Enter    MENTEITH,    CAITHNESS, 

ANGUS,  LENNOX,  and  Soldiers 
Menteith.    The  English  power  is  near,  led  on  by 
Malcolm, 


Macbeth  [Act  \ 

His  uncle  Siward,  and  the  good  Macduff. 
Revenges  burn  in  them  ;  for  their  dear  causes 
Would  to  the  bleeding  and  the  grim  alarm 
Excite  the  mortified  man. 

Angus,  Near  Birnam  wood 

Shall  we  well  meet  them  ;  that  way  are  they  coming. 

Caithness.    Who   knows   if    Donalbain  be   with   his 
brother  ? 

Lennox.    For  certain,  sir,  he  is  not.     I  have  a  file 
Of  all  the  gentry ;  there  is  Siward's  son, 
And  many  unrough  youths  that  even  now  10 

Protest  their  first  of  manhood. 

Menteith.  What  does  the  tyrant  ? 

Caithness.   Great  Dunsinane  he  strongly  fortifies. 
Some  say  he  's  mad  ;  others,  that  lesser  hate  him, 
Do  call  it  valiant  fury ;  but,  for  certain, 
He  cannot  buckle  his  distemper'd  cause 
Within  the  belt  of  rule. 

Angus.  Now  does  he  feel 

His  secret  murthers  sticking  on  his  hands ; 
Now  minutely  revolts  upbraid  his  faith-breach. 
Those  he  commands  move  only  in  command, 
Nothing  in  love  ;  now  does  he  feel  his  title  20 

Hang  loose  about  him,  like  a  giant's  robe 
Upon  a  dwarfish  thief. 

Menteith.  Who  then  shall  blame 

His  pester'd  senses  to  recoil  and  start, 
When  all  that  is  within  him  does  condemn. 
Itself  for  being  there  ? 


Scene  Hi]  Macbeth  133 

Caithness.  Well,  march  we  on, 

To  give  obedience  where  't  is  truly  owed. 
Meet  we  the  medicine  of  the  sickly  weal, 
And  with  him  pour  we  in  our  country's  purge 
Each  drop  of  us. 

Lennox.  Or  so  much  as  it  needs, 

To  dew  the  sovereign  flower  and  drown  the  weeds.      30 
Make  we  our  march  towards  Birnam. 

[Exeunt,  marching. 


SCENE  III.     Dunsinane.     A  Room  in  the  Castle 
Enter  MACBETH,  Doctor,  and  Attendants 

Macbeth.    Bring  me  no  more  reports  ;  let  them  fly  all. 
Till  Birnam  wood  remove  to  Dunsinane 
I  cannot  taint  with  fear.     What 's  the  boy  Malcolm  ? 
Was  he  not  born  of  woman  ?     The  spirits  that  know 
All  mortal  consequences  have  pronounc'd  me  thus : 
'  Fear  not,  Macbeth  ;  no  man  that 's  born  of  woman 
Shall   e'er   have   power   upon   thee.'     Then   fly,  false 

thanes, 

And  mingle  with  the  English  epicures  ; 
The  mind  I  sway  by  and  the  heart  I  bear 
Shall  never  sag  with  doubt  nor  shake  with  fear.  —      10 

Enter  a  Servant 

The  devil  damn  thee  black,  thou  cream-fac'd  loon  ! 
Where  gott'st  thou  that  goose  look  ? 


I34  Macbeth  [Act  v 

Servant.   There  is  ten  thousand  — 
Macbeth.  Geese,  villain  ? 

Servant.  Soldiers,  sir 

Macbeth.   Go  prick  thy  face,  and  over-red  thy  fear, 
Thou  lily-liver'd  boy.     What  soldiers,  patch  ? 
Death  of  thy  soul !  those  linen  cheeks  of  thine 
Are  counsellors  to  fear.     What  soldiers,  whey-face  ? 
Servant.    The  English  force,  so  please  you. 
Macbeth.   Take  thy  face  hence.  —  .<;•*     [Exit  Servant 
Seyton  !  — ( «I  am  sick  at  heart. 

When  I  behold  —  Seyton,  I  say! —  This  push  20 

Will  cheer  me  ever,  or  dis-ease  me  now. 
I  have  liv'd  long  enough  :  my  way  of  life 
Is  fallen  into  the  sear,  the  yellow  leaf, ' 
And  that  which  should  accompany  old  age, 
As  honour,  love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends, 
I  must  not  look  to  have  ;  but,  in  their  stead, 
Curses,  not  loud  but  deep,  mouth-honour,  breath, 
Which  the  poor  heart  would  fain  deny,  and  dare  not.  — 

Seyton ! 

Enter  SEYTON 

Seyton.    What 's  your  gracious  pleasure  ? 
Macbeth.  What  news  more  ?     30 

Seyton.   All  is  confirm'd,  my  lord,  which  was  reported. 
Macbeth.    I  '11  fight  till  from  my  bones  my  flesh  be 

hack'd. 
Give  me  my  armour. 

Seyton.  'T  is  not  needed  yet. 

Macbeth.    I  '11  put  it  on. 


Scene  ill]  Macbeth  135 

Send  out  moe  horses,  skirr  the  country  round ; 

Hang  those  that  talk  of  fear.    Give  me  mine  armour.  — 

How  does  your  patient,  doctor  ? 

Doctor.  Not  so  sick,  my  lord, 

As  she  is  troubled  with  thick-coming  fancies 
That  keep  her  from  her  rest. 

Macbeth.  Cure  her  of  that. 

Canst  thou  not  minister  to  a  mind  diseas'd,  40 

Pluck  from  the  memory  a  rooted  sorrow, 
Raze  out  the  written  troubles  of  the  brain, 
And  with  some  sweet  oblivious  antidote 
Cleanse  the  stuff' d  bosom  of  that  perilous  stuff 
Which  weighs  upon  the  heart  ? 

Doctor.  Therein  the  patient 

Must  minister  to  himself. 

Macbeth.    Throw  physic  to  the  dogs,  I  '11  none  of  it.  — 
Come,  put  mine  armour  on  ;  give  me  my  staff.  — 
Seyton,  send  out.  —  Doctor,  the  thanes  fly  from  me.  — 
Come,  sir,  dispatch.  —  If  thou  couldst,  doctor,  cast     50 
The  water  of  my  land,  find  her  disease, 
And  purge  it  to  a  sound  and  pristine  health, 
I  would  applaud  thee  to  the  very  echo, 
That  should  applaud  again.  —  Pull 't  off,  I  say.  — 
What  rhubarb,  senna,  or  what  purgative  drug, 
Would  scour  these  English  hence  ?      Hear'st  thou  of 
them? 

Doctor.   Ay,  my  good  lord  ;  your  royal  preparation 
Makes  us  hear  something. 

Macbeth.  Bring  it  after  me.  — 


Macbeth  [Act  v 

I  will  not  be  afraid  of  death  and  bane  59 

Till  Birnam  forest  come  to  Dunsinane.  [Exit. 

Doctor.   Were  I  from  Dunsinane  away  and  clear, 
Profit  again  should  hardly  draw  me  here.  [Exit. 

SCENE  IV.      Country  near  Birnam  Wood 

Drum  and  colours.  Enter  MALCOLM,  old  SIWARD  and 
his  Son,  MACDUFF,  MENTEITH,  CAITHNESS,  ANGUS, 
LENNOX,  Ross,  and  Soldiers,  marching 

Malcolm.    Cousins,  I  hope  the  days  are  near  at  hand 
That  chambers  will  be  safe. 

Menteith.  We  doubt  it  nothing. 

Siward.   What  wood  is  this  before  us  ? 

Menteith.  The  wood  of  Birnam. 

Malcolm.   Let  every  soldier  hew  him  down  a  bough, 
And  bear  't  before  him  ;  thereby  shall  we  shadow 
The  numbers  of  our  host  and  make  discovery 
Err  in  report  of  us. 

Soldiers.  It  shall  be  done. 

Siward.    We  learn  no  other  but  the  confident  tyrant 
Keeps  still  in  Dunsinane,  and  will  endure 
Our  setting  down  before  't. 

Malcolm.  'T  is  his  main  hope  ;        10 

For  where  there  is  advantage  to  be  given, 
Both  more  and  less  have  given  him  the  revolt, 
And  none  serve  with  him  but  constrained  things 
Whose  hearts  are  absent  too. 

Macduff.  Let  our  just  censures 


Scene  V]  Macbeth  137 

Attend  the  true  event,  and  put  we  on 
Industrious  soldiership. 

Siward.  The  time  approaches 

That  will  with  due  decision  make  us  know 
What  we  shall  say  we  have  and  what_we  owjk^. 
Thoughts  speculative  their  unsure  hopes!  relate/ 
But  certain  i^sue  strokes  must  arbitrate,* 
Towards  which  advance  the  war.        {Exeunt,  marchit 

^\>^^^ 

SCENE  V.     Dunsinane.      Within  the  CasUe 

Enter  MACBETH,  SEYTON,  and  Soldiers,  with  drum  and 

colours 

Macbeth.  Hang  out  our  banners  on  the  outward  walls  ; 
The  cry  is  still  '  They  come  ! '     Our  castle's  strength 
Will  laugh  a  siege  to  scorn  ;  here  let  them  lie 
Till  famine  and  the  ague  eat  them  up. 
Were  they  not  forc'd  with  those  that  should  be  ours, 
We  might  have  met  them  dareful,  beard  to  beard, 
And  beat  them  backward  home.    [A  cry  of  women  within. 

What  is  that  noise  ? 

Seyton.   It  is  the  cry  of  women,  my  good  lord.      [Exit. 
Macbeth.     I  have  almost  forgot  the  taste  of  fears  ; 
The  time  has  been  my  senses  would  have  cool'd          10 
To  hear  a  night-shriek,  and  my  fell  of  hair 
Would  at  a  dismal  treatise  rouse  and  stir 
As  life  were  in  't.     I  have  supp'd  full  with  horrors ; 
Direness,  familiar  to  my  slaughterous  thoughts, 
Cannot  once  start  me.  — 


138 


Macbeth  [Act  V 


Re-enter  SEYTON 


Wherefore  was  that  cry 
Seyton.     The  queen,  my  lord,  is  dead. 
Macbeth.   }She  shoujlcl|nave  died  jnereafter"* 
There  would  have  been  a  time  for  such  a  word.1 
To-morrow,  and  to-morrow,  and  to-morrow, 
Creeps  in  this  petty  pace  from  day  to  day 
To  the  last  syllable  of  recorded  time, 
And  all  our  yesterdays  have  lighted  fools 
The  way  to  dusty  death.     Out,  out,  brief  candle  ! 
Life  's  but  a  walking  shadow,  a  poor  player 
That  struts  and  frets  his  hour  upon  the  stage 
And  then  is  heard  no  more  ;  it  is  a  tale 
Told  by  an  idiot,  full  of  sound  and  fury, 
Signifying  nothing.  — /• 


Enter  a  Messenger 

Thou  com'st  to  use  thy  tongue  ;  thy  story  quickly. 

Messenger.     Gracious  my  lord,  30 

I  should  report  that  which  I  say  I  saw, 
But  know  not  how  to  do  it. 

Macbeth.  Well,  say,  sir. 

Messenger.     As  I  did  stand  my  watch  upon  the  hill, 
I  look'd  toward  Birnam,  and  anon,  methought, 
The  wood  began  to  move. 

Macbeth.  Liar  and  slave ! 

Messenger.    Let  me  endure  your  wrath  if  't  be  not  so. 


Scene  VI]  Macbeth  139 

Within  this  three  mile  may  you  see  it  coming ; 
I  say,  a  moving  grove. 

Macbeth.  If  thou  speak'st  false, 

Upon  the  next  tree  shalt  thou  hang  alive 
Till  famine  cling  thee ;  if  thy  speech  be  sooth,  40 

I  care  not  if  thou  dost  for  me  as  much.  — 
I  pull  in  resolution,  and  begin 
To  doubt  the  equivocation  of  the  fiend 
That  lies  like  truth :  '  Fear  not,  till  Birnam  wood 
Do  come  to  Dunsinane  ;  '  and  now  a  wood 
Comes  toward/ Dunsinane.  —  Arm,  arm/pid  out!— ^L 
If  this  which  he  avouches  does  appear, v 
There  is  nor  flying  hence  nor  tarrying  here. 
I  gin  to  be  aweary  of  the  sun, 

And  wish  the  estate  o'  the  world  were  now  undone.  — 
Ring  the  alarum-bell !  —  Blow,  wind  !  come,  wrack  !    51 
At  least  we  '11  die  with  harness  on  our  back.      {Exeunt. 

SCENE  VI.     Dunsinane.     Before  the  Castle 

Drum    and  colours.      Enter  MALCOLM,    old    SIWAPD, 

MACDUFF,  and  their  Army,  with  boughs 
Malcolm.    Now  near  enough ;  your  leavy  screens  throw 

down, 

And  show  like  those  you  are.  — You,  worthy  uncle, 
Shall  with  my  cousin,  your  right-noble  son, 
Lead  our  first  battle ;  worthy  Macduff  and  we 
Shall  take  upon  's  what  else  remains  to  do, 
According  to  our  order. 


140 


Macbeth  [Act  V 


Siward.  Fare  you  well. 

Do  we  but  find  the  tyrant's  power  to-night, 
Let  us  be  beaten  if  we  cannot  fight. 

Macduff.    Make  all  our  trumpets  speak ;  give  them  all 

breath, 
Those  clamorous  harbingers  of  blood  and  death. 

\Exeunt. 

SCENE  VII.     Another  Part  of  the  Field 

Alarums.     Enter  MACBETH 
Macbeth.    They  have  tied  me  to  a  stake ;   I  cannot 

fly, 

But,  bear-like,  I  must  fight  the  course.     What 's  he 
That  was  not  born  of  woman  ?     Such  a  one 
Am  I  to  fear,  or  none. 


Young  Siward.    What  is  thy  name  ? 

Macbeth.  Thou  'It  be  afraid  to  hear  it. 

Young  Siward.    No ;    though   thou   call'st   thyself    a 

hotter  name 
Than  any  is  in  hell. 

Macbeth.  My  name  's  Macbeth. 

Young  Siward.    The   devil   himself   could   not   pro- 
nounce a  title 
More  hateful  to  mine  ear. 

Macbeth.  No,  nor  more  fearful. 


Scene  vii]  Macbeth  141 

Young  Siward.    Thou  liest,  abhorred  tyrant ;  with  my 
sword  I0 

I  '11  prove  the  lie  thou  speak'st. 

\They  fight,  and  young  Siward  is  slain. 
Macbeth.  Thou  wast  born  of  woman.  — 

But  swords  I  smile  at,  weapons  laugh  to  scorn, 
Brandish 'd  by  man  that 's  of  a  woman  born.          [Exit. 

Alarums.     Enter  MACDUFF 

Macduff.    That  way  the  noise  is.  —  Tyrant,  show  thy 

face ! 

If  thou  be'st  slain  and  with  no  stroke  of  mine, 
My  wife  and  children's  ghosts  will  haunt  me  still. 
I  cannot  strike  at  wretched  kerns  whose  arms 
Are  hir'd  to  bear  their  staves  ;  either  thou,  Macbeth, 
Or  else  my  sword  with  an  unbatter'd  edge 
I  sheathe  again  undeeded.    There  thou  shouldst  be ;  20 
By  this  great  clatter  one  of  greatest  note 
Seems  bruited.     Let  me  find  him,  fortune  ! 
And  more  I  beg  not.  {Exit.     Alarums. 

Enter  MALCOLM  and  old  SIWARD 

Siward.    This  way,  my  lord.     The  castle  's  gently 

render 'd ; 

The  tyrant's  people  on  both  sides  do  fight ; 
The  noble  thanes  do  bravely  in  the  war ; 
The  day  almost  itself  professes  yours, 
And  little  is  to  do. 


Macbeth  [Act  V 

Malcolm.  We  have  met  with  foes 

That  strike  beside  us. 

Si-ward.  Enter,  sir,  the  castle. 

\Exeunt.     Alarum. 

SCENE  VIII.     Another  Part  of  the  Field 
Enter  MACBETH 

Macbeth.    Why  should  I  play  the  Roman   fool,  and 

die 

On  mine  own  sword  ?  whiles  I  see  lives,  the  gashes 
Do  better  upon  them. 

Enter  MACDUFF 

Macduff.  Turn,  hell-hound,  turn  ! 

Macbeth.  Of  all  men  else  I  have  avoided  thee. 
But  get  thee  back  ;  my  soul  is  too  much  charg'd 
With  blood  of  thine  already. 

Macduff.  I  have  no  words  ; 

My  voice  is  in  my  sword,  thou  bloodier  villain 
Than  terms  can  give  thee  out !  [  They  fight. 

Macbeth.  Thou  losest  labour. 

As  easy  mayst  thou  the  intrenchant  air 
With  thy  keen  sword  impress  as  make  me  bleed.          10 
Let  fall  thy  blade  on  vulnerable  crests  ; 
I  bear  a  charmed  life,  which  must  not  yield 
To  one  of  woman  born. 

Macduff.  Despair  thy  charm, 

And  let  the  angel  whom  thou  still  hast  serv'd 


Scene  VIII]  Macbeth  143 

Tell  thee  Macduff  was  from  his  mother's  womb 
Untimely  ripp'd. 

Macbeth.    Accursed  be  that  tongue  that  tells  me  so, 
For  it  hath  cow'd  my  better  part  of  man  ! 
And  be  these  juggling  fiends  no  more  believ'd, 
That  palter  with  us  in  a  double  sense ;  20 

That  keep  the  word  of  promise  to  our  ear 
And  break  it  to  our  hope.  —  I'll  not  fight  with  thee. 

Macduff.    Then  yield  thee,  coward, 
And  live  to  be  the  show  and  gaze  o'  the  time  ; 
We  '11  have  thee,  as  our  rarer  monsters  are, 
Painted  upon  a  pole,  and  underwrit, 
'  Here  may  you  see  the  tyrant.' 

Macbeth.  I  will  not  yield, 

To  kiss  the  ground  before  young  Malcolm's  feet, 
And  to  be  baited  with  the  rabble's  curse. 
Though  Birnam  wood  be  come  to  Dunsinane,  3° 

And  thou  oppos'd,  being  of  no  woman  born, 
Yet  I  will  try  the  last.     Before  my  body 
I  throw  my  warlike  shield  ;  lay  on,  Macduff, 
And  damn'd  be  him  that  first  cries  '  Hold,  enough  ! ' 

{Exeunt,  fighting.     Alarums. 

Retreat.  Flourish.  Enter,  with  drum  and  colottrs, 
MALCOLM,  old  SIWARD,  Ross,  the  other  Thanes, 
and  Soldiers 

Malcolm.    I  would  the  friends   we   miss   were   safe 
arriv'd. 


144  Macbeth  [Act  V 

Si-ward.    Some  must  go  off ;  and  yet,  by  these  I  see, 
So  great  a  day  as  this  is  cheaply  bought. 

Malcolm.    Macduff  is  missing,  and  your  noble  son. 

Ross.    Your  son,  my  lord,  has  paid  a  soldier's  debt ; 
He  only  liv'd  but  till  he  was  a  man,  40 

The  which  no  sooner  had  his  prowess  confirm'd 
In  the  unshrinking  station  where  he  fought, 
But  like  a  man  he  died. 

Siuiard.  Then  he  is  dead  ? 

Ross.   Ay,  and  brought  off  the  field;  your  cause  of 

sorrow 

Must  not  be  measur'd  by  his  worth,  for  then 
It  hath  no  end. 

Si-ward.  Had  he  his  hurts  before  ? 

Ross.   Ay,  on  the  front. 

Si-ward.  Why  then,  God's  soldier  be  he  ! 

Had  I  as  many  sons  as  I  have  hairs, 
I  would  not  wish  them  to  a  fairer  death ; 
And  so  his  knell  is  knolPd. 

Malcolm.  He  's  worth  more  sorrow,  50 

And  that  I  '11  spend  for  him. 

Siward.  He  's  worth  no  more  ; 

They  say  he  parted  well  and  paid  his  score, 
And  so  God  be  with  him  !     Here  comes  newer  comfort. 


Re-enter  MACDUFF,  with  MACBETH 's  head 

Macduff.    Hail,  king!  for  so  thou  art.     Behold, 

stands 
The  usurper's  cursed  head ;  the  time  is  free. 


Scene  VIII] 


Macbeth 


I  see  thee  compass'd  with  thy  kingdom's  pearl, 
That  speak  my  salutation  in  their  minds  ; 
Whose  voices  I  desire  aloud  with  mine : 
Hail,  King  of  Scotland  ! 

All.  Hail,  King  of  Scotland  !  [Flourish, 

Malcolm.  We  shall  not  spend  a  large  expense  of  time 
Before  we  reckon  with  your  several  loves  61 

And  make  us  even  with  you.     My  thanes  and  kinsmen, 
Henceforth  be  earls,  the  first  that  ever  Scotland 
In  such  an  honour  nam'd.     What  's  more  to  do 
Which  would  be  planted  newly  with  the  time,  — 
As  calling  home  our  exil'd  friends  abroad 
That  fled  the  snares  of  watchful  tyranny, 
Producing  forth  the  cruel  ministers 
Of  this  dead  butcher  and  his  fiend-like  queen, 
Who,  as  't  is  thought,  by  self  and  violent  hands  70 

Took  off  her  life,  —  this,  and  what  needful  else 
That  calls  upon  us,  by  the  grace  of  Grace 
We  will  perform  in  measure,  time,  and  place ; 
So,  thanks  to  all  at  once  and  to  each  one, 
Whom  we  invite  to  see  us  crown'd  at  Scone. 

[Flourish.     Exeunt 


MACBETH  —  10 


N(DTES 


147 


NOTES 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  METRE  OF  THE  PLAY.  — It  should  be  understood  at  the 
outset  that  metre,  or  the  mechanism  of  verse,  is  something  alto- 
gether distinct  from  the  music  of  verse.  The  one  is  matter  of  rule, 
the  other  of  taste  and  feeling.  Music  is  not  an  absolute  necessity 
of  verse;  the  metrical  form  is  a  necessity,  being  that  which  consti- 
tutes the  verse. 

The  plays  of  Shakespeare  (with  the  exception  of  rhymed  pas- 
sages, and  of  occasional  songs  and  interludes)  are  all  in  unrhymed 
or  blank  verse  ;   and  the  normal  form  of  this  blank  verse  is  illus 
trated  by  the  first  line  of  the  second  scene  in  this  play  :  " 
bloody  man  is  that?     He  can  report." 

149 


Notes 


This  line,  it  will  be  seen,  consists  of  ten  syllables,  with  the  even 
syllables  (2d,  4th,  6th,  8th,  and  loth)  accented,  the  odd  syllables 
(ist,  3d,  etc.)  being  unaccented.  Theoretically,  it  is  made  up  of 
five/i?£/of  two  syllables  each,  with  the  accent  on  the  second  sylla 
hie.  Such  a  foot  is  called  an  iambus  (plural,  iambusis,  or  th'j 
Latin  iambi),  and  the  form  of  verse. is  called  iambic. 

This  fundamental  law  of  Shakespeare's  verse  is  subject  to  certain 
modifications,  the  most  important  of  \\hich  are  as  follows  :  — 

1.  After  the  tenth  syllable  an  unaccented  syllable  (or  even  two 
such  syllables)  may  be  added,  forming  what  is  sometimes  called  a 
female  line;    as  in  line  8  of  the  second  scene:    "As  two  spent 
swimmers  that  do  cling  together."     The  rhythm  is  complete  with 
the  second  syllable  of  together,  the  last  syllable  being  an  extra  one. 
Other  examples  in  the  same  scene  are  lines  9,  n,  14,  and  52.     IP 
ii.  4.  10  we  have  two  extra  syllables,  the  rhythm  being  complete 
with  the  second  syllable  of  unnatural. 

2.  The  accent  in  any  part  of  the  verse  may  be  shifted  from  an 
even  to  an  odd  syllable  ;   as  in  lines  6  and  10  of  the  second  scene  : 

"  Say  to  the  king  the  knowledge  of  the  broil. 

#        #        #        *        # 
Worthy  to  be  a  rebel,  for  to  that." 

In  both  lines  the  accent  is  shifted  from  the  second  to  the  first  syl- 
lable. This  change  occurs  very  rarely  in  the  tenth  syllable,  anJ 
seldom  in  the  fourth  ;  and  it  is  not  allowable  in  two  successive  ac- 
cented syllables. 

3.  An  extra  unaccented  syllable  may  occur  in  any  part  of  the. 
line  ;   as  in  lines  60  and  62.     In  60  the  second  syllable  of  burial  if» 
superfluous:  and  in  62  the  second  syllable  ot  general. 

4.  Any  unaccented  syllable  occurring  in  an  even  place  immedi- 
ately before  or  after  an  even  syllable  which  is  properly  accented,  is 
reckoned  as  accented  for  the  purposes  of  the  verse  ;  as,  for  instance, 
m  lines  2  and  5.     In  2  both  by  and  the  are  metrically  equivalent  to 
accented  syllables;   and  so  with  the  last  syllable  of  captivity  in  5 


Notes  151 


Other  examples  are  the  third  syllable  of  multiplying  and  the  last  of 
villanies  in  line  n,  the  last  of  battlements  in  23,  the  first  of  over- 
chargd  in  37,  and  the  last  of  memorize  and  Golgotha  in  40.  In 
i.  3.  130,  "This  supernatural  soliciting,"  three  of  the  five  accents 
are  of  this  nature.  In  ii.  2.  62,  "  The  multitudinous  seas  incarna- 
dine," the  polysyllables  have  each  two  accents,  the  other  one  being 
on  seas. 

5.  In  many  instances  in  Shakespeare  words  must  be  lengthened 
in  order  to  fill  out  the  rhythm :  — 

(a)  In  a  large  class  of  words  in  which  e  or  i  is  followed  by  an- 
other vowel,  the  e  or  i  is  made  a  separate  syllable ;  as  ocean,  opin- 
ion, soldier,  patience,  partial,  marriage,  etc.  For  instance,  line  3 
of  the  second  scene  appears  to  have  only  nine  syllables,  but  sergeant 
(see  note  on  the  word)  is  a  trisyllable.  In  18  execution  is  metri- 
cally five  syllables,  and  reflection  is  a  quadrisyllable  in  25.  Many 
similar  instances  are  mentioned  in  the  Notes.  This  lengthening 
occurs  most  frequently  at  the  end  of  the  line ;  but  in  line  19,  if 
carv'd  is  a  monosyllable  (as  in  the  folio  and  some  of  the  modern 
editions)  minion  must  be  a  trisyllable.  Cf.  observation  (five  syl- 
lables) in  A.  Y.  L.  ii.  7.  41  :  "  With  observation,  the  which  he 
vents,"  etc. 

(£)  Many  monosyllables  ending  in  r,  re,  rs,  res,  preceded  by  a 
long  vowel  or  diphthong,  are  often  made  dissyllables  ;  as  fare,  fear, 
dear,  fire,  hair,  hour,  your,  etc.  In  iv.  3.  1 1 1  ("  Died  every  day 
>,he  liv'd.  Fare  thee  well !  ")  Fare  is  a  dissyllable.  If  the  word  is 
repeated  in  a  verse,  it  is  often  both  monosyllable  and  dissyllable  ; 
,\s  in  M.  of  V.  iii.  2.  20  :  "And  so,  though  yours,  not  yours. 
Trove  it  so,"  where  either  yours  (preferably  the  first)  is  a  dissyl- 
lable, the  other  being  a  monosyllable.  In/.  C.  iii.  I.  172  :  "As  fire 
drives  out  fire,  so  pity,  pity,"  the  first  fire  is  a  dissyllable. 

(c)  Words  containing  /  or  r,  preceded  by  another  consonant,  are 
often  pronounced  as  if  a  vowel  came  between  the  consonants  ; 
as  in  i.  5.  39  of  this  play:  "That  croaks  the  fatal  entrance 
[ent(e)rance]  of  Duncan;"  and  iii.  2.  30:  "Let  your  remem- 


Notes 

brance  [rememb(e)rance]  apply  to  Banquo;  "  also  in  T.  of  S.  ii.  i. 
158  :  "While  she  did  call  me  rascal  fiddler"  [fidd(e)ler]  ;  All's 
Well,  iii.  5.  43  :  "If  you  will  tarry,  holy  pilgrim"  [pilg(e)rim]  ; 
C.  of  E.  v.  i.  360:  "These  are  the  parents  of  these  children" 
(childeren,  the  original  form  of  the  word). 

(</)  Monosyllabic  exclamations  (ay,  O,  yea,  nay,  hail,  etc.)  and 
monosyllables  otherwise  emphasized  are  similarly  lengthened  (like 
Hail  in  i.  2.  5  of  this  play) ;  also  certain  longer  words ;  as  com- 
mandement  in  M.  of  K  iv.  I.  442;  safety  (trisyllable)  in  Ham. 
i.  3.  21;  business  (trisyllable,  as  originally  pronounced)  in/.  C.  iv. 
i.  22:  "To  groan  and  sweat  under  the  business"  (so  in  several 
other  passages) ;  and  other  words  mentioned  in  the  notes  to  the 
plays  in  which  they  occur. 

6.  Words  are  also  contracted  for  metrical  reasons,  like  plurals 
and  possessives  ending  in  a  sibilant,  as  horse  (see  note  on  ii.4.  14  of 
this  play),  sense  (see  on  v.  I.  27),  princess,  marriage  (plural  and  pos- 
sessive), image,  etc.     So  many  contracted  superlatives,  like  kindest 
(see  other  examples  in  this  play  referred  to  in  note  on  ii.  i.  24),  and 
other  words  mentioned  in  the  notes  on  this  and  other  plays. 

7.  The  accent  of  words  is  also  varied  in  many  instances  for  met- 
rical reasons.     Thus  we  find  both  revenue  and  revenue  in  the  first 
scene  of  the  M.  N.  D.   (lines  6   and   158),  6bscure  and  obscure, 
pursue  and  pursue,  distinct  and  distinct,  etc. 

These  instances  of  variable  accent  must  not  be  confounded  with 
those  in  which  words  were  uniformly  accented  differently  in  the 
time  of  Shakespeare;  like  aspect,  authdrized  (see  note  on  iii.  4.  66), 
chdstise  (see  on  i.  5.  27),  imp6rtune,  persever  (never  persevere}, 
perseverance  (see  note  on  iv.  3.  93),  purveyor  (see  on  i.  6.  22), 
rheumatic,  etc. 

8.  Alexandrines,  or  verses  of  twelve  syllables,  with  six  accents, 
occur  here  and  there;   as  in  i.  2.  38,  58,  64,  etc.,  in  this  play.     They 
must  not  be  confounded  with  female  lines  with  two  extra  syllables 
(see  on  I  above),  or  with  other  lines  in  which  two  extra  unaccented 
syllables  may  occur. 


Notes  1 53 

9.  Incomplete  verses,  of  one   or   more   syllables,  are   scattered 
through  the  plays.     See  ii.  I.  20,  41,  51,  66,  etc.,  in  this  play. 

10.  Doggerel  measure   is   used    in    the   very   earliest    comedies 
(Z.  L.  L.  and  C.  of  E.  in  particular)  in  the  mouths  of  comic  char- 
acters, but  nowhere  else  in  those  plays,  and  never  anywhere  after 
1597  or  1598. 

11.  Rhyme  occurs  frequently  in  the  early  plays,  but  diminishes 
with  comparative  regularity  from  that  period  until  the  latest.    Thus, 
in  Z.  Z.  Z.  there  are  about   1 100  rhyming  verses  (about  one-third 
of  the  whole  number),  in  the  M.  N.  D.  about  900,  in  Rich.  II. 
and  R.  and  J.  about  500  each,  while  in  Cor.  and  A.  and  C.  there  are 
only  about  40  each,  in  the  Temp,  only  two,  and  in  the  W.  T.  none 
at  all,  except  in  the  chorus  introducing  act  iv.     Songs,  interludes, 
And  other  matter  not  in  ten-syllable  measure  are  not  included  in 
this  enumeration.     In  the  present  play,  out  of  some  2000  verses, 
about  100  are  in  rhyme,  with  about  130  shorter  ones. 

Alternate  rhymes  are  found  only  in  the  plays  written  before 
1599  or  1600.  In  Z.  Z.  Z.  we  find  242  such  lines,  in  the  M.  of  V. 
only  four  lines  at  the  end  of  iii.  2.  In  Much  Ado  and  A.  Y.  L.  we 
also  find  a  few  lines,  but  none  at  all  in  subsequent  plays,  like  the 

present  one. 

Rhymed  couplets,  or  "rhyme-tags,"  are  often  found  at  the  end  c 
scenes;  as  in  the  first  scene,  and  twenty  other  scenes,  of  the  pres- 
ent play.  In  Ham.  14  out  of  20  scenes,  and  in  the  M.  of  V.  13 
out  of  20,  have  such  "tags" ;  but  in  the  latest  plays  they  are  not 
so  frequent.  The  Temp.,  for  instance,  has  but  one,  and  the  Win- 
ter's Tale  none. 

In  this  play,  the  first  scene,  and  portions  of  other  scenes  in  which 
the  Witches  appear,  are  in  trochaic  metre,  the  accents  being  on  the 
odd  syllables  (ist,  3d,  5th,  etc.).  See  the  first  note  on  act  i. 

12  In  this  edition  of  Shakespeare,  the  final  -ed  of  past  tenses 
and  participles  is  printed  -V  when  the  word  is  to  be  pronounced  in 
the  ordinary  way;  as  in  s&ow'J,  line  15,  and  fatd,  line  20,  of  the 
second  scene.  But  when  the  metre  requires  that  the  -ed  be  made  a 


154  Notes' 

separate  syllable,  the  e  is  retained;  as  in  carved,  line  19,  of  the 
same  scene,  where  the  word  is  a  dissyllable.  The  only  variation 
from  this  rule  is  in  verbs  like  cry,  die,  etc.,  the  -ed  of  which  is  very 
rarely,  if  ever,  made  a  separate  syllable. 

SHAKESPEARE'S  USE  OF  VERSE  AND  PROSE  IN  THE  PLAYS.— 
This  is  a  subject  to  which  the  critics  have  given  very  little  atten- 
tion, but  it  is  an  interesting  study.  In  many  of  the  plays  we  find 
scenes  entirely  in  verse  or  in  prose,  and  others  in  which  the  two  are 
mixed.  In  general,  we  may  say  that  verse  is  used  for  what  is  dis- 
tinctly poetical,  and  prose  for  what  is  not  poetical.  The  distinction, 
however,  is  not  so  clearly  marked  in  the  earlier  as  in  the  later 
plays.  The  second  scene  of  the  M.  of  V.,  for  instance,  is  in  prose, 
because'Portia  and  Nerissa  are  talking  about  the  suitors  in  a  familiar 
and  playful  way;  but  in  the  T.  G.  of  V.,  where  Julia  and  Lucetta 
are  discussing  the  suitors  of  the  former  in  much  the  same  fashion, 
the  scene  is  in  verse.  Dowden,  commenting  on  Kick.  //.,  re- 
marks :  "  Had  Shakespeare  written  the  play  a  few  years  later,  we 
may  be  certain  that  the  gardener  and  his  servants  (iii.  4)  would 
not  have  uttered  stately  speeches  in  verse,  but  would  have  spoken 
homely  prose,  and  that  humour  would  have  mingled  with  the 
pathos  of  the  scene.  The  same  remark  may  be  made  with  refer- 
ence to  the  subsequent  scene  (v.  5)  in  which  his  groom  visits  the 
dethroned  king  in  the  Tower."  Comic  characters  and  those  in  low 
life  generally  speak  in  prose  in  the  later  plays,  as  Dowden  inti- 
mates, but  in  the  very  earliest  ones  doggerel  verse  is  much  used 
instead.  See  on  10  above. 

The  change  from  prose  to  verse  is  well  illustrated  in  the  third 
scene  of  the  M.  of  V.  It  begins  with  plain  prosaic  talk  about  a 
business  matter;  but  when  Antonio  enters,  it  rises  at  once  to  the 
higher  level  of  poetry.  The  sight  of  Antonio  reminds  Shylock  of 
his  hatred  of  the  Merchant,  and  the  passion  expresses  itself  in  verse, 
the  vernacular  tongue  of  poetry.  We  have  a  similar  change  in 
the  first  scene  of  /.  C,  where,  after  the  quibbling  "  chaff "  of  the 
mechanics  about  their  trades,  the  mention  of  Pompey  reminds  the 


Notes  155 

Tribune  of  their  plebeian  fickleness,  and  his  scorn  and  indignation 
flame  out  in  most  eloquent  verse. 

The  reasons  for  the  choice  of  prose  or  verse  are  not  always  so 
clear  as  in  these  instances.  We  are  seldom  puzzled  to  explain  the 
prose,  but  not  unfrequently  we  meet  with  verse  where  we  might 
expect  prose.  As  Professor  Corson  remarks  {Introduction  to  Shake- 
speare, 1889),  "  Shakespeare  adopted  verse  as  the  general  tenor  of 
his  language,  and  therefore  expressed  much  in  verse,  that  is  within 
the  capabilities  of  prose;  in  other  words,  his  verse  constantly 
encroaches  upon  the  domain  of  prose,  but  his  prose  can  never  be 
said  to  encroach  upon  the  domain  of  verse."  If  in  rare  instances 
we  think  we  find  exceptions  to  this  latter  statement,  and  prose 
actually  seems  to  usurp  the  place  of  verse,  I  believe  that  careful 
study  of  the  passage  will  prove  the  supposed  exception  to  be  appar- 
ent rather  than  real. 

The  present  play  is  almost  entirely  in  verse,  the  only  prose  being 
the  letter  in  i.  5,  the  Porter's  part  (ii.  3),  and  v.  i,  which  is  all  in 
prose  except  the  last  nine  lines. 

SOME  BOOKS  FOR  TEACHERS  AND  STUDENTS.  —  A  few  out  of 
the  many  books  that  might  be  commended  to  the  teacher  and  the 
critical  student  are  the  following:  Halliwell-Phillipps's  Outlines 
of  the  Life  of  Shakespeare  (7th  ed.  1887);  Sidney  Lee's  Life  of 
Shakespeare  (1898;  for  ordinary  students  the  abridged  ed.  of  1899 
is  preferable);  Schmidt's  Shakespeare  Lexicon  (3d  ed.  1902); 
Littledale's  ed.  of  Dyce's  Glossary  (1902);  Bartlett's  Concordance 
to  Shakespeare  (1895);  Abbott's  Shakespearian  Grammar  (1873); 
Furness's  "New  Variorum"  ed.  of  Macbeth  (revised  ed.  1903; 
encyclopedic  and  exhaustive) ;  Dowden's  Shakspere:  His  Mind  and 
Art  (American  ed.  1881);  Hudson's  Life,  Art,  and  Characters  of 
Shakespeare  (revised  ed.  1882);  Mrs.  Jameson's  Characteristics  of 
Women  (several  eds.,  some  with  the  title,  Shakespeare  Heroines) ; 
Ten  Brink's  Five  Lectures  on  Shakespeare  (1895);  Boas's  shake~ 
speare  and  His  Predecessors  (1895);  Dyer's  Folk-lore  of  Shake- 
speare (American  ed.  1884);  Gervinus's  Shakespeare  Commentaries 


,56 


Notes 


(Bunnett's  translation,  1875);  Wordsworth's  Shakespeare^  Knowl- 
edge of  the  Bible  Qd  ed.  1880);  Elson's  Shakespeare  in  Music 
(1901). 

Some  of  the  above  hooks  will  be  useful  to  all  readers  who  are 
interested  in  special  subjects  or  in  general  criticism  of  Shakespeare. 
Among  those  which  are  better  suited  to  the  needs  of  ordinary 
readers  and  students,  the  following  may  be  mentioned:  Phin's 
Cyclopedia  and  Glossary  of  Shakespeare  (1902,  more  compact  and 
cheaper  than  Dyce);  Dowden's  Shakspere  Primer  (1877,  small 
but  invaluable);  Rolfe's  Shakespeare  the  Boy  (1896,  treating  of 
the  home  and  school  life,  the  games  and  sports,  the  manners, 
customs,  and  folk-lore  of  the  poet's  time);  Guerber's  Myths  of 
Greece  and  Rome  (for  young  students  who  may  need  information 
on  mythological  allusions  not  explained  in  the  notes). 

Black's  Judith  Shakespeare  (1884,  a  novel,  but  a  careful  study 
of  the  scene  and  the  time)  is  a  book  that  I  always  commend  to 
young  people,  and  their  elders  will  also  enjoy  it.  The  Lambs' 
Tales  from  Shakespeare  is  a  classic  for  beginners  in  the  study  of 
the  dramatist ;  and  in  Rolfe's  ed.  the  plan  of  the  authors  is  carried 
out  in  the  Notes  by  copious  illustrative  quotations  from  the  plays. 
Mrs.  Cowden-Clarke's  Girlhood  of  Shakespeare 's  Heroines  (sev- 
eral eds.)  will  particularly  interest  girls  ;  and  both  girls  and  boys 
will  find  Bennett's  Master  Skylark  (1897)  anfl  Imogen  Clark's 
Will  Shakespeare's  Little  Lad  (1897)  equally  entertaining  and 
instructive. 

H.  Snowden  Ward's  Shakespeare's  Town  and  Times  (1896)  and 
John  Leyland's  Shakespeare  Country  (1900)  are  copiously  illus- 
trated books  (yet  inexpensive)  which  may  be  particularly  com- 
mended for  school  libraries. 

A  book  that  may  be  specially  commended  to  teachers  and 
students  in  connection  with  the  present  play  is  Shakespeare 
Studies:  Macbeth,  by  Misses  Porter  and  Clarke  (American  Book 
Co.).  It  will  be  found  very  suggestive  of  topics  for  discussion,  col- 
lateral reading,  etc. 


Notes  157 

ABBREVIATIONS  IN  THE  NOTES.  —  The  abbreviations  of  the 
names  of  Shakespeare's  plays  will  be  readily  understood ;  as 
T.  N.  for  Twelfth  Night,  Cor.  for  Coriolanus,  3  Hen.  VI.  for 
The  Third  Part  of  King  Henry  the  Sixth,  etc.  P.  P.  refers  to 
The  Passionate  Pilgrim;  V.  and  A.  to  Venus  and  Adonis ;  L.  C. 
to  Lover's  Complaint ;  and  Bonn,  to  the  Sonnets. 

Other  abbreviations  that  hardly  need  explanation  are  Cf.  (confer, 
compare),  Fol.  (following),  Id.  (idem,  the  same),  and  Pro!,  (pro- 
logue). The  numbers  of  the  lines  in  the  references  (except  for  the 
present  play)  are  those  of  the  "  Globe  "  edition  (the  cheapest  and 
best  edition  of  Shakespeare  in  one  compact  volume),  which  is  now 
generally  accepted  as  the  standard  for  line-numbers  in  works  of  ref- 
erence (Schmidt's  Lexicon,  Abbott's  Grammar,  Dowden's  Primer, 
the  publications  of  the  New  Shakspere  Society,  etc). 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  PLAY  AS  GIVEN  BY  HOLINSHED.  —  The  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  Holinshed  contain  all  the  passages  referred  to 
by  the  various  commentators.  The  text  is  that  of  the  edition  of 
1587,  which  was  undoubtedly  the  one  that  Shakespeare  used.1 

"  It  appears  that  King  Duffe,  who  commenced  his  reign  '  in  the 
yeare  after  the  incarnation  968,  as  saith  Hector  Boetius,'  treated 
'  diuers  robbers  and  pillers  of  the  common  people  '  in  a  style  which 
created  no  small  offence;  some  were  executed,  and  the  rest  were 
obliged  '  either  to  get  them  ouer  into  Ireland,  either  else  to  learne 
some  manuall  occupation  wherewith  to  get  their  liuing,  yea  though 
they  were  neuer  so  great  gentlemen  borne.'  There  was  therefore 
great  murmuring  at  such  rigorous  reforms.  But, 

" '  In  the  meane  time  the  king  [Duffe]  fell  into  a  languishing 
disease,  not  so  greeuous  as  strange,  for  that  none  of  his  physicians 
could  perceiue  what  to  make  of  it.  For  there  was  scene  in  him 
no  token,  that  either  choler,  melancholic,  flegme,  or  any  other 

i  For  these  extracts  and  the  thread  of  narrative  connecting  them,  I 
am  indebted  (by  permission)  to  Furness's  edition  of  Macbeth.  I  have 
added  a  few  explanatory  foot-notes.  —  (Ed.) 


158  Notes 

vicious  humor  did  any  thing  abound,  whereby  his  bodie  should  be 
brought  into  such  decaie  and  consumption  (so  as  there  remained 
vnneth  l  anie  thing  vpon  him  saue  skin  and  bone). 

" '  And  sithens  it  appeared  manifestlie  by  all  outward  signes  and 
tokens,  that  naturall  moisture  did  nothing  faile  in  the  vitall  spirits, 
his  colour  also  was  fresh  and  faire  to  behold,  with  such  liuelines  of 
looks,  that  more  was  not  to  be  wished  for;  he  had  also  a  temperat 
desire  and  appetite  to  his  meate  &  drinke,  but  yet  could  he  not 
sleepe  in  the  night  time  by  any  prouocations  that  could  be  deuised, 
but  still  fell  into  exceeding  sweats,  which  by  no  means  might  be 
restreined.  The  physicians  perceiuing  all  their  medicines  to  want 
due  effect,  yet  to  put  him  in  some  comfort  of  helpe,  declared  to 
him  that  they  would  send  for  some  cunning  physicians  into  furreigne 
parts,  who  happilie  being  inured  with  such  kind  of  diseases,  should 
easilie  cure  him,  namelie  so  soone  as  the  spring  of  the  yeare  was 
once  come,  which  of  it  selfe  should  helpe  much  thervnto.' 

"  The  Chronicle  goes  on  to  state  that  the  '  king  being  sicke  yet 
he  regarded  iustice  to  be  executed,'  and  that  a  rebellion  which 
arose  was  kept  from  his  knowledge,  'for  doubt  of  increasing  his 
sickness.'  It  then  proceeds :  — 

" '  But  about  that  present  time  there  was  a  murmuring  amongst 
the  people,  how  the  king  was  vexed  with  no  naturall  sicknesse,  but 
by  sorcerie  and  magicall  art,  practised  by  a  sort  of  witches  dwelling 
in  a  towne  of  Murrey  land,  called  Fores. 

"'  Wherevpon,  albeit  the  author  of  this  secret  talke  was  not 
knowne:  yet  being  brought  to  the  kings  eare,  it  caused  him  to 
send  foorthwith  certeine  wittie  persons  thither,  to  inquire  of  the 
truth.  They  that  were  thus  sent,  dissembling  the  cause  of  their 
iornie,  were  receiued  in  the  darke  of  the  night  into  the  castell  of 
Fores  by  the  lieutenant  of  the  same,  called  Donwald,  who  continu- 

1  Scarcely,  hardly.    Cf.  2  Hen.  VI.  ii.  4.  8  :  — 

"  Uneath  may  she  endure  the  flinty  streets 
To  tread  them  with  her  tender-feeling  feet."  —  (Ed.) 


Notes  159 

ing  faithfull  to  the  king,  had  kept  that  castell  against  the  rebels  to 
the  kings  vse.  Vnto  him  therefore  these  messengers  declared  the 
cause  of  their  comming,  requiring  his  aid  for  the  accomplishment  of 
the  kings  pleasure. 

"  '  The  souldiers,  which  laie  there  in  garrison  had  an  inkling  that 
there  was  some  such  matter  in  hand  as  was  talked  of  amongst  the 
people  ;  by  reason  that'  one  of  them  kept  as  concubine  a  yoong 
woman,  which  was  daughter  to  one  of  the  witches  as  his  paramour, 
who  told  him  the  whole  maner  vsed  by  hir  mother  &  other  hir 
companions,  with  their  intent  also,  which  was  to  make  awaie  the 
king.  The  souldier  hauing  learned  this  of  his  lemman,1  told  the 
same  to  his  fellowes,  who  made  report  to  Donwald,  and  hee  shewed 
it  to  the  kings  messengers,  and  therwith  sent  for  the  yoong  damo- 
sell  which  the  souldier  kept,  as  then  being  within  the  castell,  and 
caused  hir  vpon  streict  examination  to  confesse  the  whole  matter 
as  she  had  scene  and  knew.  Wherevpon  learning  by  hir  con- 
fession in  what  house  in  the  towne  it  was  where  they  wrought  there 
mischiefous  mysterie,  he  sent  foorth  souldiers,  about  the  middest 
of  the  night,  who  breaking  into  the  house,  found  one  of  the  witches 
resting  vpon  a  wodden  broch  an  image  of  wax  at  the  fier,  resem- 
bling in  each  feature  the  kings  person,  made  and  deuised  (as  is  to 
be  thought)  by  craft  and  art  of  the  diuell  :  an  other  of  them  sat 
reciting  certeine  words  of  inchantment,  and  still  basted  the  image 
with  a  certeine  liquor  verie  busilie. 

'"The  souldiers  finding  them  occupied  in  this  wise,  tooke  them 
togither  with  the  image,  and  led  them  into  the  castell,  where  being 
streictlie  examined  for  what  purpose  they  went  about  such  manner 
of  inchantment,  they  answered,  to  the  end  to  make  away  the  king  : 
for  as  the  image  did  waste  afore  the  tire,  so  did  the  bodie  of  the 
king  breake  foorth  in  sweat.2  And  as  for  the  words  of  inchant- 

i  Leman  ;  i.e.  mistress,  paramour.    Cf.  T.  N.  ii.  3.  26  and  2  Hen.  IV. 


v.  3.  49.  —         . 

2  This  kind  of  witchcraft  is  very  ancient.    We  find  it  in  the  Idyls  of 
Theocritus  and  the  Eclogues  of  Virgil  ;  also  in  Horace  (Efodes,  xvii. 


1 60  Notes 

ment,  they  serued  to  keepe  him  still  wak'ing  from  sleepe,  so  that  as 
the  wax  euer  melted,  so  did  the  kings  flesh :  by  the  which  meanes 
it  should  haue  come  to  passe,  that  when  the  wax  was  once  cleane 
consumed,  the  death  of  the  king  should  immediatlie  follow.  So 
were  they  taught  by  euil  spirits,  and  hired  to  worke  the  feat  by 
the  nobles  of  Murrey  land.  The  slanders  by,  that  heard  such  an 
abhominable  tale  told  by  these  witches,  streightwaies  brake  the 
image,  and  caused  the  witches  (according  as  they  had  well  de- 
serued)  to  bee  burnt  to  death. 

" '  It  was  said  that  the  king,  at  the  verie  same  time  that  these 
things  were  a  dooing  within  the  castell  of  Fores,  was  deliuered  of 
his  languor,  and  slept  that  night  without  anie  sweat  breaking  foorth 
vpon  him  at  all,  &  the  next  daie  being  restored  to  his  strength,  was 
able  to  doo  anie  maner  of  thing  that  lay  in  man  to  doo,  as  though 
he  had  not  beene  sicke  before  anie  thing  at  all.  But  howsoeuer  it 
came  to  passe,  truth  it  is,  that  when  he  was  restored  to  his  perfect 
health,  he  gathered  a  power  of  men,  &  with  the  same  went  into 
Murrey  land  against  the  rebels  there,  and  chasing  them  from 
thence,  he  pursued  them  into  Rosse,  and  from  Rosse  into  Cath- 
nesse,  where  apprehending  them,  he  brought  them  backe  vnto 
Fores,  and  there  caused  them  to  be  hanged  vp,  on  gallows  and 
gibets. 

" '  Amongest  them  there  were  also  certeine  yoong  gentlemen, 
right  beautifull  and  goodlie  personages,  being  neere  of  kin  vnto 
Donwald  capteine  of  the  castell,  and  had  beene  persuaded  to  be 
partakers  with  the  other  rebels,  more  through  the  fraudulent  coun- 
sell  of  diuerse  wicked  persons,  than  of  their  owne  accord  ;  where- 
vpon  the  foresaid  Donwald  lamenting  their  case,  made  earnest 
labor  and  sute  to  the  king  to  haue  begged  their  pardon  ;  but 
hauing  a  plaine  deniall,  he  conceiued  such  an  inward  malice  towards 
the  king,  (though  he  shewed  it  not  outwardlie  at  the  first)  that  the 

76  and  Satires,  i.  8.  30).  See  also  the  story  of  "  The  Leech  of  Folke- 
stone "  in  The  Itigoldsby  Legends.  —  (Ed.) 


Notes  1 6 1 

same  continued  still  boiling  in  his  stomach,  and  ceased  not,  till 
through  setting  on  of  his  wife,  and  in  reuenge  of  such  vnthanke- 
fulnesse,  hee  found  meanes  to  murther  the  king  within  the  foresaid 
castell  of  Fores  where  he  vsed  to  soiourne.  For  the  king  being  in 
that  countrie,  was  accustomed  to  lie  most  commonlie  within  the 
same  castell,  hauing  a  speciall  trust  in  Donwald,  as  a  man  whom  he 
neuer  suspected. 

" '  But  Donwald,  not  forgetting  the  reproch  which  his  linage  had 
susteined  by  the  execution  of  those  his  kinsmen,  whome  the  king 
for  a  spectacle  to  the  people  had  caused  to  be  hanged,  could  not 
but  shew  manifest  tokens  of  great  griefe  at  home  amongst  his 
familie :  which  his  wife  perceiuing,  ceassed  not  to  trauell  with  him, 
till  she  vnderstood  what  the  cause  was  of  his  displeasure.  Which 
at  length  when  she  had  learned  by  his  owne  relation,  she  as  one 
that  bare  no  lesse  malice  in  hir  heart  towards  the  king,  for  the  like 
cause  on  hir  behalfe,  than  hir  husband  did  for  his  friends,  coun- 
selled him  (sith  the  king  oftentimes  vsed  to  lodge  in  his  house 
without  anie  gard  about  him,  other  than  the  garrison  of  the  castell, 
which  was  whollie  at  his  commandement)  to  make  him  awaie,  and 
shewed  him  the  meanes  wherby  he  might  soonest  accomplish  it. 

" '  Donwald  thus  being  the  more  kindled  in  wrath  by  the  words 
of  his  wife,  determined  to  follow  hir  aduise  in  the  execution  of  so 
heinous  an  act.  Whervpon  deuising  with  himselfe  for  a  while, 
which  way  hee  might  best  accomplish  his  curssed  intent,  at  length 
he  gat  opportunitie,  and  sped  his  purpose  as  followeth.  It  chanced 
that  the  king  vpon  the  daie  before  he  purposed  to  depart  foorth 
of  the  castell,  was  long  in  his  oratorie  at  his  praiers,  and  there  con- 
tinued till  it  was  late  in  the  night.  At  the  last,  comming  foorth,  he 
called  such  afore  him  as  had  faithfullie  serued  him  in  pursute  and 
apprehension  of  the  rebels,  and  giuing  them  heartie  thanks,  he  be- 
stowed sundrie  honorable  gifts  amongst  them,  of  the  which  number 
Donwald  was  one,  as  he  that  had  beene  euer  accounted  a  most 
faithfull  seruant  to  the  king.  .  .  . 

'"Then  Donwald,  though  he  abhorred  the  act  greatlie  in  his 

MACBETH  —  II 


1 62  Notes 

heart,  yet  through  instigation  of  his  wife,  hee  called  foure  of  his 
seruants  vnto  him  (whome  he  had  made  priuie  to  his  wicked  intent 
before,  and  framed  to  his  purpose  with  large  gifts)  and  now  declar- 
ing vnto  them,  after  what  sort  they  should  worke  the  feat,  they 
gladlie  obeied  his  instructions,  &  speedilie  going  about  the  murther, 
they  enter  the  chamber  (in  which  the  king  laie)  a  little  before  cocks 
crow,  where  they  secretlie  cut  his  throte  as  he  lay  sleeping,  without 
anie  buskling1  at  all:  and  immediatlie  by  a  posterne  gate  they 
caried  foorth  the  dead  bodie  into  the  fields,-  and  throwing  it  vpon 
an  horsse  there  prouided  readie  for  that  purpose,  they  conuey  it 
vnto  a  place,  about  two  miles  distant  from  the  castell,  where  they 
staied,  and  gat  certeine  labourers  to  helpe  them  to  turne  the  course 
of  a  little  riuer  running  through  the  fields  there,  and  digging  a  deepe 
hole  in  the  chanell,  they  burie  the  bodie  in  the  same,  ramming  it  vp 
with  stones  and  grauell  so  closelie,  that  setting  the  water  in  the 
right  course  againe,  no  man  could  perceiue  that  anie  thing  had 
beene  newlie  digged  there.  This  they  did  by  order  appointed  them 
by  Donwald  as  is  reported,  for  that  the  bodie  should  not  be  found, 
&  by  bleeding  (when  Donwald  should  be  present)  declare  him  to 
be  guiltie  of  the  murther.  For  such  an  opinion  men  haue,  that  the 
dead  corps  of  anie  man  being  slaine,  will  bleed  abundantlie  if  the 
murtherer  be  present.  But  for  what  consideration  soeuer  they 
buried  him  there,  they  had  no  sooner  finished  the  work,  but  that 
they  slue  them  whose  helpe  they  vsed  herein,. and  streightwaies 
therevpon  fled  into  Orknie. 

" '  Donwald,  about  the  time  that  the  murther  was  in  dooing,  got 
him  amongst  them  that  kept  the  watch,  and  so  continued  in  com- 
panie  with  them  all  the  residue  of  the  night.  But  in  the  morning 
when  the  noise  was  raised  in  the  kings  chamber  how  the  king  was 
slaine,  his  bodie  conueied  away,  and  the  bed  all  beraied  with  bloud; 
he  with  the  watch  ran  thither,  as  though  he  had  knowne  nothing 
of  the  matter,  and  breaking  into  the  chamber,  and  finding  cakes  of 
bloud  in  the  bed,  and  on  the  floore  about  the  sides  of  it,  he  foorth- 
1  Bustling,  commotion. —  (Ed.) 


Notes  163 


with  slue  the  chamberleins,  as  guiltie  of  that  heinous  murther,  and 
then  like  a  mad  man  running  to  and  fro,  he  ransacked  euerie  cor- 
ner within  the  castell,  as  though  it  had  beene  to  haue  scene  if  he 
might  haue  found  either  the  bodie,  or  anie  of  the  murtherers  hid  in 
anie  priuie  place :  but  at  length  comming  to  the  posterne  gate,  and 
finding  it  open,  he  burdened  the  chamberleins,  whome  he  had  slaine, 
with  ail  the  fault,  they  hauing  the  keies  of  the  gates  committed  to 
their  keeping  all  the  night,  and  therefore  it  could  not  be  otherwise 
(isaid  he)  but  that  they  were  of  counsell  in  the  committing  of  that 
most  detestable  murther. 

" '  Finallie,  such  was  his  ouer  earnest  diligence  in  the  seuere  in- 
quisition and  triall  of  the  offenders  heerein,  that  some  of  the  lords 
bugan  to  mislike  the  matter,  and  .to  smell  foorth  shrewd  tokens, 
that  he  should  not  be  altogither  cleare  himselfe.  But  for  so  much 
as  they  were  in  that  countrie,  where  hee  had  the  whole  rule,  what 
by  reason  of  his  friends  and  authentic  togither,  they  doubted  to 
vtter  what  they  thought,  till  time  and  place  should  better  serue 
therevnto,  and  heerevpon  got  them  awaie  euerie  man  to  his  home. 

ACT  II.  Scene  IV. — "'For  the  space  of  six  moneths  togither, 
alter  this  heinous  murther  thus  committed,  there  appeered  no 
sunne  by  day,  nor  moone  by  night  in  anie  part  of  the  realme,  but 
still  was  the  skie  couered  with  continuall  clouds,  and  sometimes 
suche  outragious  vvindes  arose,  with  lightenings  and  tempests,  that 
the  people  were  in  great  feare  of  present  destruction.  Monstrous 
sights  also  that  were  scene  within  the  Scotish  kingdome  that  yeere  ' 
['-.hat  is,  of  King  Duffe's  murder,  A.u.  972]  '  were  these,  horsses  in 
Louthian,  being  of  singular  beautie  and  swiftnesse,  did  eate  their 
owne  flesh,  and  would  in  no  wise  taste  anie  other  meate.  In  Angus 
there  was  a  gentlewoman  brought  foorth  a  child  without  eies, 
nose,  hand,  or  foot.  There  was  a  sparhawke  also  strangled  by  an 
o\vle.' 

"  Thus  far  the  Chronicle  of  King  Duffe  supplied  Shakespeare  with 
some  of  the  details  and  accessories  of  his  tragedy;  and  we  now  turn 
to  the  history  of  the  hero  himself,  Macbeth.  But  there  is  one  other 


164 


Notes 


incident  recorded  by  Holinshed,  on  one  of  the  few  intermediate 
pages  of  his  Chronicle,  between  the  stories  of  King  Duffe  and  Mac- 
beth, which  I  cannot  but  think  attracted  Shakespeare's  notice  as  he 
passed  from  one  story  to  the  other,  and  which  was  afterward  worked 
up  by  him  in  connection  with  Duncan's  murder.1  As  far  as  I  am 
aware,  it  has  never  been  noted  by  any  editor  or  commentator.  It 
seems  that  Kenneth,  the  brother  and  one  of  the  successors  of  Duffe, 
was  a  virtuous  and  able  prince,  and  would  have  left  an  unstained 
name  had  not  the  ambition  to  have  his  son  succeed  him  tempted 
him  to  poison  secretly  his  nephew  Malcome,  the  son  of  Duff  and 
the  heir  apparent  to  the  throne.  Kenneth  then  obtained  from  a 
council  at  Scone  the  ratification  of  his  son  as  his  successor.  '  Thus 
might  he  seeme  happie  to  all  men,'  continues  Holinshed,  '  but 
yet  to  himselfe  he  seemed  most  vnhappie  as  he  that  could  not  but 
still  live  in  continuall  feare,  least  his  wicked  practise  concerning 
the  death  of  Malcome  Duffe  should  come  to  light  and  knowledge 
of  the  world.  For  so  commeth  it  to  passe,  that  such  as  are  pricked 
in  conscience  for  anie  secret  offense  committed,  haue  euer  an  vn- 
quiet  mind.'  [What  follows  suggested,  I  think,  to  Shakespeare 
'the  voice,'  at  ii.  2.  35,  that  cried  'sleep  no  more.']  'And  (as  the 
fame  goeth)  it  chanced  that  a  voice  was  heard  as  he  was  in  bed  in 
the  night  time  to  take  his  rest,  vttering  vnto  him  these  or  the  like 
woords  in  effect:  "Thinke  not  Kenneth  that  the  wicked  slaughter 
of  Malcome  Duffe  by  thee  contriued,  is  kept  secret  from  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  eternall  God,"  &c.  .  .  .  The  king  with  this  voice  being 
striken  into  great  dread  and  terror,  passed  that  night  without  anie 
sleepe  comming  in  his  eies. 

"'After  Malcolme  '  [that  is,  'after  the  incarnation  of  our  Saviour 
1034  yeeres,']  'succeeded  his  nephue  Duncane,  the  sonne  of  his 
daughter  Beatrice :  for  Malcolme  had  two  daughters,  the  one  which 
was  this  Beatrice,  being  giuen  in  marriage  vnto  one  Abbanath 

1  The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  (see  p.  157,  foot-note)  that  I  am 
quoting  Dr.  Furness  here,  and  that  it  is  to  him  that  this  interesting 
discovery  is  due.  —  (Ed.) 


Notes  165 


Crinen,  a  man  of  great  nobilitie,  and  thane  of  the  Isles  and  west 
part  of  Scotland,  bare  of  that  manage  the  foresaid  Duncane.  The 
other  called  Doada,  was  maried  vnto  Sinell  the  thane  of  Glammis, 
by  whome  she  had  issue  [see  allusion  to  Sinel  in  I.  3.  71]  one 
Makbeth  a  valiant  gentleman,  and  one  that  if  he  had  not  beene 
somewhat  cruell  of  nature,  might  haue  beene  thought  most  woorthie 
the  gouernement  of  a  realme.  On  the  other  part,  Duncane  was  so 
soft  and  gentle  of  nature,  that  the  people  wished  the  inclinations 
and  maners  of  these  two  cousins  to  haue  beene  so  tempered  and 
enterchangeablie  bestowed  betwixt  them,  that  where  the  one  had 
too  much  clemencie,  and  the  other  of  crueltie,  the  means  vertue 
betwixt  these  two  extremities  might  haue  reigned  by  indifferent 
partition  in  them  both,  so  should  Duncane  haue  proued  a  woorthie 
king,  and  Makbeth  an  excellent  capteine.  The  beginning  of  Dun- 
cans reigne  was  verie  quiet  and  peaceable,  without  anie  notable 
trouble  ;  but  after  it  was  perceiued  how  negligent  he  was  in  pun- 
ishing offenders,  manie  misruled  persons  tooke  occasion  thereof 
to  trouble  the  peace  and  quiet  state  of  the  common-wealth,  by 
seditious  commotions  which  first  had  their  beginnings  in  this 
wise. 

" '  Banquho  the  thane  of  Lochquhaber,  of  whom  the  house  of  the 
Stewards  is  descended,  the  which  by  order  of  linage  hath  now  for  a 
long  time  inioied  the  crowne  of  Scotland,  euen  till  these  our  daies, 
as  he  gathered  the  finances  due  to  the  king,  and  further  punished 
somewhat  sharpelie  such  as  were  notorious  off endors,  being  assailed 
by  a  number  of  rebels  inhabiting  in  that  countrie,  and  spoiled  of 
the  monie  and  all  other  things,  had  much  a  doo  to  get  awaie  with 
life,  after  he  had  receiued  sundrie  grieuous  wounds  amongst  them. 
Yet  escaping  their  hands,  after  hee  was  somewhat  recouered  of  his 
hurts  and  was  able  to  ride,  he  repaired  to  the  court,  where  making 
his  complaint  to  the  king  in  most  earnest  wise,  he  purchased  at  length 
that  the  offenders  were  sent  for  by  a  sergeant  at  armes,  to  appeare 
to  make  answer  vnto  such  matters  as  should  be  laid  to  their  charge : 
but  they  augmenting  their  mischiefous  act  with  a  more  wicked 


1 66  Notes 

deed,  after  they  had  misused  the  messenger  with  sundrie  kinds  of 
reproches,  they  finallie  slue  him  also. 

"'Then  doubting  not  but  for  such  contemptuous  demeanor 
against  the  kings  regall  authoritie,  they  should  be  inuaded  with  all 
the  power  the  king  could  make,  Makdowald  one  of  great  estimation 
among  them,  making  first  a  confederacie  with  his  neerest  friends 
and  kinsmen,  tooke  vpon  him  to  be  chiefe  captiene'  of  all  such 
rebels,  as  would  stand  against  the  king,  in  maintenance  of  their 
grieuous  offenses  latelie  committed  against  him.  Manie  slanderous 
words  also,  and  railing  tants  this  Makdowald  vttered  against  h'is 
prince,  calling  him  a  faint-hearted  milkesop,  more  meet  to  gouerne 
a  sort  of  idle  moonks  in  some  cloister,  than  to  haue  the  rule  of  such 
valiant  and  hardie  men  of  warre  as  the  Scots  were.  He  vsed  also 
such  subtill  persuasions  and  forged  allurements,  that  in  a  small  tine 
he  had  gotten  togither  a  mightie  power  of  men:  [see  i.  2,  9-i;i] 
for  out  of  the  westerne  Isles  there  came  vnto  him  a  great  mull  i- 
tude  of  people,  offering  themselues  to  assist  him  in  that  rebellious 
quarell,  and  out  of  Ireland  in  hope  of  the  spoile  came  no  smill 
number  of  Kernes  and  Galloglasses,  offering  gladlie  to  serue  vncler 
him,  whither  it  should  please  him  to  lead  them. 

"'Makdowald  thus  hauing  a  mightie  puissance  about  him,  in- 
countered  with  such  of  the  kings  people  as  were  sent  against  him 
into  Lochquhaber,  and  discomfiting  them,  by  mere  force  tooke  their 
capteine  Malcolme,  and  after  the  end  of  the  battell  smote  off  his 
head.  This  ouerthrow  being  notified  to  the  king,  did  put  him  in 
woonderfull  feare,  by  reason  of  his  small  skill  in  warlike  affaires. 
Calling  therefore  his  nobles  to  a  councell,  he  asked  of  them  their 
best  aduise  for  the  subduing  of  Makdowald  &  other  the  rebels. 
Here,  in  sundrie  heads  (as  euer  it  happeneth)  were  sundrie  opin- 
ions, which  they  vttered  according  to  euerie  man  his  skill.  At 
length  Makbeth  speaking  much  against  the  kings  softnes,  and  ouer- 
much  slacknesse  in  punishing  offendors,  whereby  they  had  such 
time  to  assemble  togither,  he  promised  notwithstanding,  if  the 
charge  were  committed  vnto  him  and  vnto  Eanquho,  so  to  order 


Notes  167 


the  matter,  that  the  rebels  should  be  shortly  vanquished  &  quite  put 
ilowne,  and  that  not  so  much  as  one  of  them  should  be  found  to 
make  resistance  within  the  countrie. 

" '  And  euen  so  it  came  to  passe :  for  being  sent  foorth  with  a 
new  power,  at  his  entring  into  Lochquhaber,  the  fame  of  his 
comming  put  the  enimies  in  such  feare,  that  a  great  number  of 
them  stale  secretlie  awaie  from  their  capteine  Makdowald,  who 
neuerthelesse  inforced  thereto,  gaue  battell  vnto  Makbeth,  with  the 
residue  which  remained  with  him :  but  being  ouercome,  and  fleeing 
for  refuge  into  a  castell  (within  the  which  his  wife  &  children  were 
inclosed)  at  length  when  he  saw  how  he  could  neither  defend  the 
hold  anie  longer  against  his  enimies,  nor  yet  vpon  surrender  be  suf- 
fered to  depart  with  life  saued,  hee  first  slue  his  wife  and  children, 
a  ad  lastlie  himselfe,  least  if  he  had  yeelded  simplie,  he  should  haue 
beene  executed  in  most  cruell  wise  for  an  example  to  other.  Mak- 
beth entring  into  the  castell  by  the  gates,  as  then  set  open,  found 
the  carcasse  of  Macclowald  lieng  dead  there  amongst  the  residue  of 
the  slaine  bodies,  which  when  he  beheld,  remitting  no  peece  of  his 
cruell  nature  with  that  pitifull  sight,  he  caused  the  head  to  be  cut 
off,  and  set  vpon  a  poles  end,  and  so  sent  it  as  a  present  to  the  king 
who  as  then  laie  at  Bertha.  The  headlesse  trunke  he  commanded 
to  bee  hoong  vp  vpon  an  high  paire  of  gallowes. 

" '  Them  of  the  westerne  Isles  suing  for  pardon,  in  that  they  had 
aided  Makdowald  in  his  tratorous  enterprise,  he  fined  at  great  sums 
of  moneie  :  and  those  whome  he  tooke  in  Lochquhaber,  being  come 
thither  to  beare  armor  against  the  king,  he  put  to  execution.  Her- 
vpon  the  Ilandmen  conceiued  a  deadlie  grudge  towards  him,  calling 
him  a  couenant-breaker,  a  bloudie  tyrant,  &  a  cruell  murtherer  of 
them  whome  the  kings  mercie  had  pardoned.  With  which  reproch- 
full  words  Makbeth  being  kindled  in  wrathfull  ire  against  them,  had 
passed  ouer  with  an  armie  into  the  Isles,  to  haue  taken  reuenge 
vpon  them  for  their  liberall  *  talke,  had  he  not  beene  otherwise  per- 

1  Too  free.  S.  uses  it  in  a'similar  sense  =  licentious,  wanton.  Cf. 
Much  Ado,  iv.  i.  93;  Ham.  iv.  7.  171 ;  Otli.  ii.  i.  165,  etc.—  (Ed.) 


1 68  Notes 

suaded  by  some  of  his  friends,  and  partlie  pacified  by  gifts  presented 
vnto  him  on  the  behalfe  of  the  Ilandmen,  seeking  to  auoid  his  dis- 
pleasure. Thus  was  iustice  and  law  restored  againe  to  the  old 
accustomed  course,  by  the  diligent  means  of  Makbeth.  Imme- 
diatlie  wherevpon  woord  came  that  Sueno  king  of  Norway  was 
arriued  in  Fife  with  a  puissant  armie,  to  subdue  the  whole  realme 
of  Scotland. 

"'The  crueltie  cf  this  Sueno  was  such,  that  he  neither  spared 
man,  woman,  nor  child,  of  what  age,  condition  or  degree  soeuer 
they  were.  Whereof  when  K.  Duncane  was v  certified,  he  set  all 
slouthfull  and  lingering  delaies  apart,  and  began  to  assemble  an 
armie  in  most  spedie  wise,  like  a  verie  valiant  capteine  :  for  often- 
times it  happeneth,  that  a  dull  coward  and  slouthfull  person,  con- 
streined  by  necessitie,  becommeth  verie  hardie  and  actiue.  There- 
fore when  his  whole  power  was  come  togither,  he  diuided  the  same 
into  three  battels.  The  first  was  led  by  Makbeth,  the  second  by 
Banquho,  &  the  king  himselfe  gouerned  in  the  maine  battell  or 
middle  ward,  wherein  were  appointed  to  attend  and  wait  upon  his 
person  the  most  part  of  all  the  residue  of  the  Scotish  nobilitie. 

"'The  armie  of  Scotishmen  being  thus  ordered,  came  vnto  Cul- 
ros,  where  incountering  with  the  enimies,  after  a  sore  and  cruell 
foughten  battell,  Sueno  remained  victorious,  and  Malcolme  with 
his  Scots  discomfited.  Howbeit  the  Danes  were  so  broken  by  this 
battell,  that  they  were  not  able  to  make  long  chase  on  their  eni- 
mies, but  kept  themselues  all  night  in  order  of  battell,  for  doubt 
least  the  Scots  assembling  togither  againe,  might  haue  set  vpon 
them  at  some  aduantage.  Onjthe  morrow,  when  the  fields  were 
discouered,  and  that  it  was  perceiued  how  no  enimies  were  to  be 
found  abrode,  they  gathered  the  spoile,  which  they  diuided  amongst 
them,  according  to  the  law  of  armes.  Then  was  it  ordeined  by  com- 
mandement  of  Sueno,  that  no  souldier  should  hurt  either  man, 
woman,  or  child,  except  such  as  were  found  with  weapon  in  hand 
readie  to  make  resistance,  for  he  hoped  now  to  conquer  the  realme 
without  further  bloudshed. 


Notes  169 

"'But  when  knowledge  was  giuen  how  Duncane  was  fled  to  the 
castell  of  Bertha,  and  that  Makbeth  was  gathering  a  new  power  to 
withstand  the  incursions  of  the  Danes,  Sueno  raised  his  tents  & 
comming  to  the  said  castell,  laid  a  strong  siege  round  about  it. 
Duncane  seeing  himselfe  thus  enuironed  by  his  enimies,  sent  a 
secret  message  by  counsell  of  Banquho  to  Makbeth,  commanding 
him  to  abide  at  Inchcuthill,  till  he  heard  from  him  some  other 
newes.  In  the  meane  time  Duncane  fell  in  fained  communication 
with  Sueno,  as  though  he  would  haue  yeelded  vp  the  castell  into 
his  hands,  vnder  certeine  conditions,  and  this  did  he  to  driue  time, 
and  to  put  his  enimies  out  of  all  suspicion  of  anie  enterprise  ment 
against  them,  till  all  things  were  brought  to  passe  that  might  serue 
for  the  purpose.  At  length  when  they  were  fallen  at  a  point  for  ren- 
dring  vp  the  hold,  Duncane  offered  to  send  foorth  of  the  castell 
into  the  campe  greate  prouision  of  vittels  to  refresh  the  armie, 
which  offer  was  gladlie  accepted  of  the  Danes,  for  that  they  had 
beene  in  great  penurie  of  sustenance  manie  daies  before. 

"'The  Scots  heereupon  tooke  the  iuice  of  mekilwoort  berries, 
and  mixed  the  same  in  their  ale  and  bread,  sending  it  thus  spiced 
&  confectioned,  in  great  abundance  vnto  their  enimies.  They 
reioising  that  they  had  got  meate  and  drinke  sufficient  to  satisfie 
their  bellies,  fell  to  eating  and  drinking  after  such  greedie  wise, 
that  it  seemed  they  stroue  who  might  deuoure  and  swallow  vp 
most,  till  the  operation  of  the  berries  spread  in  such  sort  through 
all  the  parts  of  their  bodies,  that  they  were  in  the  end  brought  into 
a  fast  dead  sleepe,that  in  manner  it  was  jmjpossible  to  awake  them. 
Then  foorthwith  Duncane  sent  vnto  Makbeth,  commanding  him 
with  all  diligence  to  come  and  set  vpon  the  enimies,  being  in  easie 
point  to  be  ouercome.  Makbeth  making  no  delaie,  came  with  his 
people  to  the  place  where  his  enimies  were  lodged,  and  first  killing 
the  watch,  afterwards  entered  the  campe,  and  made  such  slaughter 
on  all  sides  without  anie  resistance  that  it  was  a  woonderfull  matter 
to  behold,  for  the  Danes  were  so  heauie  of  sleepe  that  the  most 
part  of  them  were  slaine  and  neuer  stirred:  other  that  were  awak- 


iyo 


Notes 


ened  either  by  the  noise  or  other  waies  foorth,  were  so  amazed  and 
dizzie  headed  vpon  their  wakening,  that  they  were  not  able  to  make 
anie  defense :  so  that  of  the  whole  number  there  escaped  no  more 
but  onelie  Sueno  himselfe  and  ten  other  persons,  by  whose  helpe 
he  got  to  his  ships  lieng  at  rodejn  the  mouth  of  Taie. 

". '  The  most  part  of  the  mariners,  when  they  heard  what  plentie 
of  meate  and  drinke  the  Scots  had  sent  vnto  the  campe,  came  from 
the  sea  thither  to  be  partakers  thereof,  and  so  were  slaine  amongst 
their  fellowes:  by  meanes  whereof  when  Sueno  perceiued  how 
through  lacke  of  mariners  he  should  not  be  able  to  conueie  awaie 
his  nauie,  he  furnished  one  ship  throughlie  with  such  as  were  left, 
and  in  the  same  sailed  backe  into  Norwaie,  cursing  the  time  that  he 
set  forward  on  this  infortunate  iournie.  The  other  ships  which  he 
left  behind  him,  within  three  daies  after  his  departure  from  thence, 
were  tossed  so  togither  by  violence  of  an  east  wind,  that  beating 
and  rushing  one  against  another,  they  sunke  there,  and  lie  in  the 
same  place  euen  vnto  these  daies,  to  the  great  danger  of  other  such 
ships  as  come  on  that  coast :  for  being  couered  with  the  floud  when 
the  tide  commeth,  at  the  ebbing  againe  of  the  same,  some  part  of 
them  appeere  aboue  water. 

"  'The  place  where  the  Danish  vessels  were  thus  lost,  is  yet  called 
Drownelow  sands.  This  ouerthrow  receiued  in  manner  afore  said 
by  Sueno,  was  verie  displeasant  to  him  and  his  people,  as  should 
appeere,  in  that  it  was  a  custome  manie  yeeres  after,  that  no  knights 
were  made  in  Norwaie,  except  they  were  first  sworne  to  reuenge 
the  slaughter  of  their  countriemen  and  friends  thus  slaine  in  Scot- 
land. The  Scots  hauing  woone  so  notable  a  victorie,  after  they 
had  gathered  &  divided  the  spoile  of  the  field,  caused  solemne  pro- 
cessions to  be  made  in  all  places  of  the  realme,  and  thanks  to  be 
giuen  to  almightie  God,  that  had  sent  them  so  faire  a  day  ouer  their 
enimies.  But  whilest  the  people  were  thus  at  their  processions, 
woord  was  brought  that  a  new  fleet  of  Danes  was  arriued  at  King- 
come,  sent  thither  by  Canute  king  of  England,  in  reuenge  of  his 
brother  Suenos  ouerthrow.  To  resist  these  enimies,  which  were 


Notes  1 7 1 

alreadie  landed,  and  busie  in  spoiling  the  countrie  ;  Makbeth  and 
Banquho  were  sent  with  the  kings  authoritie,  who  hauing  with 
them  a  conuenient  power,  incountred  the  enimies,  slue  part  of 
them,  and  chased  the  other  to  their  ships.  They  that  escaped  and 
got  once  to  their  ships,  obteined  of  Makbeth  for  a  great  summe  of 
gold  [see  i.  2.  60-62],  that  such  of  their  friends  as  were  slaine  at 
this  last  bickering,  might  be  buried  in  saint  Colmes  Inch.  In 
memorie  whereof,  manie  old  sepultures  are  yet  in  the  said  Inch, 
there  to  be  scene  grauen  with  the  armes  of  the  Danes,  as  the  maner 
of  burieng  noble  men  still  is  and  heeretofore  hath  beene  vsed. 

"'A  peace  was  also  concluded  at  the  same  fime  betwixt  the 
Danes  and  Scotishmen,  ratified  (as  some  haue  written)  in  this  wise : 
That  from  thencefoorth  the  Danes  should  neuer  come  into  Scotland 
to  make  anie  warres  against  the  Scots  by  anie  maner  of  meanes. 
And  these  were  the  warres  that  Duncane  had  with  forren  enimies, 
in  the  seventh  yeere  of  his  reigne.  Shortlie  after  happened  a 
strange  and  vncouth  woonder,  which  afterward  was  the  cause  of 
much  trouble  in  the  realme  of  Scotland,  as  ye  shall  after  heare. 

ACT  I.  Scene  III. — '"It  fortuned  as  Makbeth  and  Banquho 
iournied  towards  Fores,  where  the  king  then  laie,  they  went  sport- 
ing by  the  waie  togither  without  other  companie,  saue  onelie  them- 
selues,  passing  thorough  the  woods  and  fields,  when  suddenlie  in 
the  middest  of  a  laund,  there  met  them  three  women  in  strange 
and  wild  apparell,  resembling  creatures  of  elder  world,  whome  when 
they  attentiuelie  beheld,  woondering  much  at  the  sight,  the  first  of 
them  spake  and  said;  All  haile  Makbeth,  thane  of  Glammis  (for  he 
had  latelie  entered  into  that  dignitie  and  office  by  the  death  of  his 
father  Sinell).  The  second  of  them  said ;  Haile  Makbeth  thane  of 
Cawder.  But  the  third  said;  All  haile  Makbeth  that  heereafter 
shalt  be  king  of  Scotland. 

"'Then  Banquho;  What  manner  of  women  (saith  he)  are  you, 
that  seeme  so  little  fauourable  vnto  me,  whereas  to  my  fellow 
heere,  besides  high  offices,  ye  assigne  also  the  kingdome,  appointing 
foorth  nothing  for  me  at  all  ?  Yes  (saith  the  first  of  them)  we 


172 


Notes 


promise  greater  benefits  vnto  thee,  than  vnto  him,  for  he  shall 
reigne  in  deed,  but  with  an  vnluckie  end :  neither  shall  he  leaue 
anie  issue  behind  him  to  succeed  in  his  place,  where  contrarilie 
thou  in  deed  shalt  not  reigne  at  all,  but  of  thee  those  shall  be 
borne  which  shall  gouern  the  Scotish  kingdome  by  long  order  of 
continuall  descent.  Herewith  the  foresaid  women  vanished  imme- 
diatlie  out  of  their  sight.  This  was  reputed  at  the  first  but  some 
vaine  fantasticall  illusion  by  Mackbeth  and  Banquho,  insomuch 
that  Banquho  would  call  Mackbeth  in  iest  king  of  Scotland;  and 
Mackbeth  againe  would  call  him  in  sport  likewise,  the  father  of 
manie  kings.  But  afterwards  the  common  opinion  was,  that  these 
women  were  either  the  weird  sisters,  that  is  (as  ye  would  say)  the 
goddesses  of  destinie,  or  else  some  nymphs  or  feiries,  indued  with 
knowledge  of  prophesie  by  their  necromanticail  science,  bicause 
euerie  thing  came  to  passe  as  they  had  spoken.  For  shortlie  after, 
the  thane  of  Cawder  being  condemned  at  Fores  of  treason  against 
the  king  committed ;  his  lands,  liuings,  and  offices  were  giuen  of  the 
kings  liberalise  to  Mackbeth. 

"'The  same  night  after,  at  supper,  Banquho  iested  with  him  and 
said;  Now  Mackbeth  thou  hast  obteined  those  things  which  the  two 
former  sisters  prophesied,  there  remaineth  onelie  for  thee  to  pur- 
chase that  which  the  third  said  should  come  to  passe.  Wherevpon 
Mackbeth  reuoluing  the  thing  in  his  mind,  began  euen  then  to 
deuise  how  he  might  atteine  to  the  kingdome :  but  yet  he  thought 
with  himselfe  that  he  must  tarie  a  time,  which  should  aduance  him 
thereto  (by  the  diuine  prouidence)  as  it  had  come  to  passe  in  his 
former  preferment. 

" '  But  shortlie  after  it  chanced  that  king  Duncane,  hauing  two 
sonnes  by  his  wife  which  was  the  daughter  of  Siward  earle  of 
Northumberland,  he  made  the  elder  of  them  called  Malcolme 
prince  of  Cumberland,  as  it  were  thereby  to  appoint  him  his  suc- 
cessor in  the  kingdome,  immediatlie  after  his  deceasse. 

ACT  I.  Scene  IV.  —  "'Mackbeth  sore  troubled  herewith,  for 
that  he  saw  by  this  means  his  hope  sore  hindered  (where,  by  the 


Notes  173 


old  lawes  of  the  realme,  the  ordinance  was,  that  if  he  that  should 
succeed  were  not  of  able  age  to  take  the  charge  vpon  himselfe,  he 
that  was  next  of  bloud  vnto  him  should  be  admitted)  he  began  to 
take  counsell  how  he  might  vsurpe  the  kingdome  by  force,  hauing 
a  iust  quarell  so  to  doo  (as  he  tooke  the  matter)  for  that  Duncane 
did  what  in  him  lay  to  defraud  him  of  all  inaner  of  title  and  claime, 
which  he  might  in  time  to  come  prete-.d  vnto  the  crowne. 

"'The  woords  of  the  three  weird  misters  also  (of  whom  before  ye 
haue  heard)  greatlie  incouraged  him  herevnto,  but  speciallie  his 
wife  lay  sore  vpon  him  to  attempt  the  thing,  as  she  that  was  verie 
ambitious,  burning  in  vnquenchable  desire  to  beare  the  name  of  a 
queene.  At  length  therefore,  communicating  his  purposed  intent 
with  his  trustie  friends,  amongst  whome  Banquho  was  the  chiefest, 
vpon  confidence  of  their  promised  aid,  he  slue  the  king  at  Enuerns, 
or  (as  some  say)  at  Botgosuane,  in  the  sixt  yeare  of  his  reigne. 

ACT  II.  Scene  IV.  —  "'Then  hauing  a  companie  about  him  of 
such  as  he  had  made  priuie  to  his  enterprise,  he  caused  himselfe 
to  be  proclaimed  king,  and  foorthwith  went  vnto  Scone,  where  (by 
common  consent)  he  receiued  the  inuesture  of  the  kingdome 
according  to  the  accustomed  maner.  The  bodie  of  Duncane  was 
first  conueied  vnto  Elgine,  &  there  buried  in  kinglie  wise;  but  after- 
wards it  was  rempued  and  conueied  vnto  Colmekill,  and  there  laid 
in  r.  sepulture  amongst  his  predecessors,  in  the  yeare  after  the  birth 
of  our  Sauiour,  1046. 

" «  Malcolme  Cammore  and  Donald  Bane  the  sons  of  king  Dur>- 
:ane,  for  feare  of  their  Hues  (which  they  might  well  know  that  Mack- 
beth  would  seeke  to  bring  to  end  for  his  more  sure  confirmation  in 
the  estate)  fled  into  Cumberland,  where  Malcolme  remained,  till  time 
that  saint  Edward  the  sonne  of  Etheldred  recouered  the  dominion 
of  England  from  the  Danish  power,  the  which  Edward  receiued 
Malcolme  by  way  of  most  friendlie  enterteinment;  but  Donald 
passed  ouer  into  Ireland,  where  he  was  tenderlie  cherished  by  the 
king  of  that  land.  Mackbeth,  after  the  departure  thus  of  Duncanes 
sonnes,  vsed  great  liberalise  towards  the  nobles  of  the  realme, 


Notes 

thereby  to  win  their  fauour,  and  when  he  saw  that  no  man  went 
about  to  trouble  him,  he  set  his  whole  intention  to  mainteine 
iustice,  and  to  punish  all  enormities  and  abuses,  which  had  chanced 
through  the  feeble  and  slouthfull  administration  of  Duncane.' 

"  [And  so  vigorously  did  Macbeth  carry  out  his  reforms,  that 
'  these  theeues,  barretters,  and  other  oppressors  of  the  innocent 
people'  .  .  .  'were  streight  waies  apprehended  by  armed  men, 
and  trussed  vp  in  halters  on  gibbets,  according  as  they  had  iustlie 
deserued.  The  residue  of  misdooers  that  were  left,  were  punished 
and  tamed  in  such  sort,  that  manie  yeares  after  all  theft  and  reif- 
fings  were  little  heard  of,  the  people  inioieng  the  blissefull  benefit 
of  good  peace  and  tranquilitie.  Mackbeth  shewing  himselfe  thus  a 
most  diligent  punisher  of  all  iniuries  and  wrongs  attempted  by  anie 
disordered  persons  within  his  realme,  was  accounted  the  sure 
defense  and  buckler  of  innocent  people;  and  hereto  he  also  applied 
his  whole  indeuor,  to  cause  yoong  men  to  exercise  themselues  in 
vertuous  maners,  and  men  of  the  church  to  attend  their  diuine  ser- 
uice  according  to  their  vocations. 

" '  He  caused  to  be  slaine  sundrie  thanes,  as  of  Cathnes,  Suther- 
land, Stranauerne,  and  Ros,  because  through  them  and  their 
seditious  attempts,  much  trouble  dailie  rose  in  the  realme.'  .  .  . 
'To  be  briefe,  such  were  the  woorthie  dooings  and  princelie  acts 
of  this  Mackbeth  in  the  administration  of  the  realme,  that  if  he  had 
atteined  therevnto  by  rightfull  means,  and  continued  in  vpright- 
nesse  of  iustice  as  he  began,  till  the  end  of  his  reigne,  he  might 
well  haue  beene  numbred  amongest  the  most  noble  princes  that 
anie  where  had  reigned.  He  made  manie  holesome  laws  and 
statutes  for  the  publike  weale  of  his  subiects.'  Holinshed  here 
'  sets  foorth  according  to  Hector  Boetius '  some  of  the  laws  made 
by  Macbeth,  and  for  one  of  them  the  king  certainly  deserves  a 
handsome  notice  from  some  of  our  most  advanced  reformers  of  the 
present  day :  '  The  eldest  daughter  shall  inherit  hir  fathers  lands, 
as  well  as  the  eldest  sonne  should,  if  the  father  leave  no  sonne 
behind  him.'] 


Notes  175 

"'These  and  the  like  commendable  lawes  Makbeth  caused  to  be 
put  as  then  in  vse,  gouerning  the  realme  for  the  space  of  ten  yeares 
in  equall  iustice.  But  this  was  but  a  counterfet  zeale  of  equitie 
shewed  by  him,  partlie  against  his  naturall  inclination  to  purchase 
thereby  the  fauour  of  the  people.  Shortlie  after,  he  began  to  shew 
what  he  was,  in  stead  of  equitie  practising  crueltie.  .  .  .  For  the 
pricke  of  conscience  (as  it  chanceth  euer  in  tyrants,  and  such  as 
atteine  to  anie  estate  by  vnrighteous  means)  caused  him  euer  to 
feare,  least  he  should  be  serued  of  the  same  cup  as  he  had  min- 
istred  to  his  predecessor.  The  woords  also  of  the  three  weird 
sisters  would  not  out  of  his  mind,  which  as  they  promised  him  the 
kingdome,  so  likewise  did  they  promise  it  at  the  same  time  vnto  the 
posteritie  of  Banquho. 

ACT  III.  Scenes  I.  and  III.  —  "'He  willed  therefore  the  same 
Banquho  with  his  sonne  named  Fleance,  to  come  to  a  supper  that 
he  had  prepared  for  them,  which  was  in  deed,  as  he  had  deuised, 
present  death  at  the  hands  of  certeine  murderers,  whom  he  hired 
to  execute  that  deed,  appointing  them  to  meete  with  the  same 
Banquho  and  his  sonne  without  the  palace,  as  they  returned  to 
their  lodgings,  and  there  to  slea  them,  so  that  he  would  not  haue 
his  house  slandered,  but  that  in  time  to  come  he  might  cleare  him- 
selfe,  if  anie  thing  were  laid  to  his  charge  vpon  anie  suspicion  that 
might  arise. 

"  '  It  chanced  yet  by  the  benefit  of  the  darke  night,  that  though 
the  father  were  slaine,  the  sonne  yet  by  the  helpe  of  almightie  God 
reseruing  him  to  better  fortune,  escaped  that  danger:  and  after- 
wards hauing  some  inkeling  (by  the  admonition  of  some  friends 
which  he  had  in  the  court)  how  his  life  was  sought  no  lesse  than 
his  fathers,  who  was  slaine  not  by  chancemedlie  l  (as  by  the  hand- 
ling of  the  matter  Makbeth  woould  haue  had  it  to  appeare),  but 

l  The  old  law  term  for  manslaughter.  Dalton,  in  his  Country  Justice 
(1620),  says:  "  Manslaughter,  otherwise  called  chancemedley ;  is  the  kill- 
ing a  man  feloniously,  .  .  .  and  yet  without  any  malice  forethought," 
etc.—  (Ed.) 


176 


Notes 


euen  vpon  a  prepensed  deuise :  wherevpon  to  auoid  further  perill 
he  fled  into  Wales.' 

«  [The  old  historian  here  makes  a  digression  in  order  to  '  rehearse 
the  originall  line  of  those  kings,  which  haue  descended  from  the 
foresaid  Banquho.'  It  will  suffice  here  to  note  that  (according  to 
Holinshed)  Fleance's  great-grandson  Alexander  had  two  sons,  from 
one  of  whom  descended  '  the  carles  of  Leuenox  and  Dernlie,'  and 
from  the  other  came  Walter  Steward,  who  '  maried  Margerie  Bruce 
daughter  to  king  Robert  Bruce,  by  whome  he  had  issue  king 
Robert  the  second  of  that  name,'  '  the  first '  (says  French,  Shake- 
speareana  Genealogica,  p.  291)  'of  the  dynasty  of  Stuart,  which 
continued  to  occupy  the  throne  until  the  son  of  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  James,  the  sixth  of  the  name,  was  called  to  the  throne  of 
England,  as  James  the  First.'] 

" '  But  to  returne  vnto  Makbeth,  in  continuing  the  historic,  and 
to  begin  where  I  left,  ye  shall  vnderstand  that  after  the  contriued 
slaughter  of  Banquho,  nothing  prospered  with  the  foresaid  Mak- 
beth :  for  in  maner  euerie  man  began  to  doubt  his  owne  life,  and 
durst  vnneth  appeare  in  the  kings  presence;  and  euen  as  there  were 
manie  that  stood  in  feare  of  him,  so  likewise  stood  he  in  feare  of 
manie,  in  such  sort  that  he  began  to  make  those  awaie  by  one  sur- 
mised cauillation  or  other,  whome  he  thought  most  able  to  worke 
him  anie  displeasure. 

" '  At  length  he  found  such  sweetnesse  by  putting  his  nobles  thus 
to  death,  that  his  earnest  thirst  after  bloud  in  this  behalfe  might  in 
no  wise  be  satisfied :  for  ye  must  consider  he  wan  double  profile 
(as  hee  thought)  hereby :  for  first  they  were  rid  out  of  the  way 
whome  he  feared,  and  then  againe  his  coffers  were  inriched  by 
their  goods  which  were  forfeited  to  his  vse,  whereby  he  might  the 
better  mainteine  a  gard  of  armed  men  about  him  to  defend  his 
person  from  iniurie  of  them  whom  he  had  in  anie  suspicion.  Fur- 
ther, to  the  end  he  might  the  more  cruellie  oppresse  his  subjects 
with  all  tyrantlike  wrongs,  he  builded  a  strong  castell  on  the  top 
of  an  hie  hill  called  Dunsinane,  situate  in  Cowrie,  ten  miles  from 


Notes  1 77 


Perth,  on  such  a  proud  height,  that  standing  there  aloft,  a  man 
might  behold  well  neere  all  the  countries  of  Angus,  Fife,  Stermond, 
and  Ernedale,  as  it  were  lieng  vnderneath  him.  This  castell  then 
being  founded  on  the  top  of  that  high  hill,  put  the  realme  to  great 
charges  before  it  was  finished,  for  all  the  stuffe  necessarie  to  the 
building  could  not  be  brought  vp  without  much  toile  and  busi- 
nesse.  But  Makbeth  being  once  determined  to  haue  the  worke 
go  forward,  caused  the  thanes  of  each  shire  within  the  realme 
to  come  and  helpe  towards  that  building,  each  man  his  course 
p.bout. 

" '  At  the  last,  when  the  turne  fell  vnto  Makduff e  thane  of  Fife 
to  builde  his  part,  he  sent  workemen  with  all  needfull  prouision, 
and  commanded  them  to  shew  such  diligence  in  euerie  behalfe, 
that  no  occasion  might  bee  giuen  for  the  king  to  find  fault  with 
him,  in  that  he  came  not  himselfe  as  other  had  doone,  which  he 
refused  to  doo,  for  doubt  lest  the  king  bearing  him  (as  he  partlie 
vnderstood)  no  great  good  will,  would  laie  violent  handes  vpon 
him,  as  he  had  doone  vpon  diuerse  other.  Shortly  after,  Makbeth 
comming  to  behold  how  the  worke  went  forward,  and  bicause  he 
found  not  Makduff  e  there,  he  was  sore  offended,  and  said;  I  per- 
ceiue  this  man  will  neuer  obeie  my  commandements,  till  he  be 
ridden  with  a  snaffle:  but  I  shall  prouide  well  inough  for  him. 
Neither  could  he  afterwards  abide  to  looke  vpon  the  said  Mak- 
duff e,  either  for  that  he  thought  his  puissance  ouer  great;  either 
else  for  that  he  had  learned  of  certeine  wizzards,  in  whose  words 
he  put  great  confidence  (for  that  the  prophesie  had  happened  so 
right,  which  the  three  faries  or  weird  sisters  had  declared  vnto  him) 
how  that  he  ought  to  take  heed  of  Makduffe,  who  in  time  to  cr?me 
should  seeke  to  destroie  him. 

Acr  IV.  Scene  7. —  "'And  suerlie  herevpon  had  he  put  Mak- 
duffe to  death,  but  that  a  certeine  witch,  whome  hee  had  in  great 
trust,  had  told  that  he  should  neuer  be  slaine  with  man  borne  of  anie 
woman,  nor  vanquished  till  the  wood  of  Bernane  came  to  the  castell 
of  Dunsinane.  By  this  prophesie  Makbeth  put  all  feare  out  of  his 
MACBETH —  12 


iy8  Notes 


heart,  supposing  he  might  doo  what  he  would,  without  anie  feare 
to  be  punished  for  the  same,  for  by  the  one  prophesie  he  beleeued 
it  was  vnpossible  for  anie  man  to  vanquish  him,  and  by  the  ether 
vnpossible  to  slea  him.  This  vaine  hope  caused  him  to  doo  inanie 
outragious  things,  to  the  greeuous  oppression  of  his  subiects.  At 
length  Makduffe,  to  auoid  perill  of  life,  purposed  with  himselfe  to 
passe  into  England,  to  procure  Malcolme  Cammore  to  claime  the 
crowne  of  Scotland.  But  this  was  not  so  secretlie  deuised  by 
Makduffe,  but  that  Makbeth  had  knowledge  giuen  him  thereof: 
for  kings  (as  is  said)  haue  sharpe  sight  like  vnto  Lynx,  and  long 
ears  like  vnto  Midas.  For  Makbeth  had  in  eurie  noble  mans  house 
one  slie  fellow  or  other  in  fee  with  him,  to  reueale  all  that  was  said 
or  doone  within  the  same,  by  which  slight  he  oppressed  the  most 
part  of  the  nobles  of  his  realme  [see  iii.  4.  131]. 

ACT  IV.  Scene  II.  —  " '  Immediatlie  then,  being  aduertised  where- 
about Makduffe  went,  he  came  hastily  with  a  great  power  into 
Fife,  and  foorthwith  besieged  the  castell  where  Makduffe  dwelled, 
trusting  to  haue  found  him  therein.  They  that  kept  the  house, 
without  anie  resistance  opened  the  gates,  and  suffered  him  to  enter, 
mistrusting  none  euill.  But  neuerthelesse  Makbeth  most  cruellie 
caused  the  wife  and  children  of  Makduffe,  with  all  other  whom  he 
found  in  that  castell,  to  be  slaine. 

ACT  IV.  Scene  HI,  — "'Also  he  confiscated  the  goods  of  Mak- 
duffe, proclaimed  him  traitor,  and  confined  him  out  of  all  the  parts 
of  his  realme;  but  Makduffe  was  alreadie  escaped  out  of  danger, 
and  gotten  into  England  vnto  Malcolme  Cammore,  to  trie  what 
purchase  hee  might  make  by  means  of  his  support  to  reuenge  the 
slaughter  so  cruellie  executed  on  his  wife,  his  children,  and  other 
friends.  At  his  comming  vnto  Malcolme,  he  declared  into  what 
great  miserie  the  estate  of  Scotland  was  brought,  by  the  detestable 
cruelties  exercised  by  the  tyrant  Makbeth,  hauing  committed  manie 
horrible  slaughters  and  murders,  both  as  well  of  the  nobles  as  com- 
mons, for  the  which  he  was  hated  right  mortallie  of  all  his  liege 
people,  desiring  nothing  more  than  to  be  deliuered  of  that  intoller- 


Notes  179 

able  and  most  heauie  yoke  of  thraldome,  which  they  susteined  at 
such  a  caitifes  hands. 

" '  Malcolme  hearing  Makduffes  woorcls,  which  he  vttered  in  verie 
lamentable  sort,  for  meere  compassion  and  verie  ruth  that  pearsed 
his  sorrowfull  hart,  bewailing  the  miserable  state  of  his  countrie,  he 
fetched  a  deepe  sigh;  which  Makduffe  perceiuing,  began  to  fall 
most  earnestlie  in  hand  with  him,  to  enterprise  the  deliuering  of  the 
Scotish  people  out  of  the  hands  of  so  cruell  and  bloudie  a  tyrant, 
as  Makbeth  by  too  manie  plaine  experiments  did  shew  himselfe  to 
be :  which  was  an  easie  matter  for  him  to  bring  to  passe,  consider- 
ing not  onelie  the  good  title  he  had,  but  also  the  earnest  desire  of 
the  people  to  haue  some  occasioned  ministred,  whereby  they  might 
be  reuenged  of  those  notable  iniuries,  which  they  dailie  susteined 
by  the  outragious  crueltie  of  Makbeths  misgouernance.  Though 
Malcolme  was  verie  sorrowfull  for  the  oppression  of  his  countrie- 
men  the  Scots,  in  maner  as  Makduffe  had  declared;  yet  doubting 
whether  he  were  come  as  one  that  ment  vnfeinedlie  as  he  spake,  or 
else  as  sent  from  Makbeth  to  betraie  him,  he  thought  to  haue  some 
further  triall,  and  therevpon  dissembling  his  mind  at  the  first,  he 
answered  as  followeth. 

" '  I  am  trulie  verie  sorie  for  the  miserie  chanced  to  my  countrie 
of  Scotland,  but  though  I  haue  neuer  so  great  affection  to  relieue 
the  same,  yet  by  reason  of  certeine  incurable  vices,  which  reigne  in 
me,  I  am  nothing  meet  thereto.  First,  such  immoderate  lust  and 
voluptuous  sensualitie  (the  abhominable  founteine  of  all  vices)  fol- 
loweth me,  that  if  I  were  made  king  of  Scots,  I  should  seeke  to 
defloure  your  maids  and  matrones,  in  such  wise  that  mine  intemper- 
ancie  should  be  more  importable  vnto  you  than  the  bloudie  tyrannic 
of  Makbeth  now  is.  Heereunto  Makduffe  answered :  this  suerly  is  a 
verie  euill  fault,  for  many  noble  princes  and  kings  haue  lost  both  Hues 
and  kingdomes  for  the  same;  neuerthelesse  there  are  women  enow 
in  Scotland,  and  therefore  follow  my  counsell,  Make  thy  selfe  king, 
and  I  shall  conueie  the  matter  so  wiselie,  that  thou  shall  be  so  satis- 
fied at  thy  pleasure  in  such  wise,  that  no  man  shall  be  aware  thereof. 


i8o  Notes 

" '  Then  said  Malcolme,  I  am  also  the  most  auaritious  creature 
on  the  earth,  so  that  if  I  were  king,  I  should  seeke  so  manie  waies 
to  get  lands  and  goods,  that  I  would  slea  the  most  part  of  all  the 
nobles  of  Scotland  by  surmised  accusations,  to  the  end  I  might 
inioy  their  lands,  goods,  and  possessions;  and  therefore  to  shew 
you  what  mischiefe  may  insue  on  you  through  mine  vnsatiable 
couetousnes,  I  will  rehearse  vnto  you  a  fable.  There  was  a  fox 
hauing  a  sore  place  on  him  ouerset  with  a  swarme  of  flies,  that 
continuallie  sucked  out  hir  bloud :  and  when  one  that  came  by  and 
saw  this  manner,  demanded  whether  she  would  haue  the  flies 
driuen  beside  hir,  she  answered  no:  for  if  these  flies  that  are 
alreadie  full,  and  by  reason  thereof  sucke  not  verie  egerlie,  should 
be  chased  awaie,  other  that  are  emptie  and  fellie1  an  hungred, 
should  light  in  their  places,  and  sucke  out  the  residue  of  my  bloud 
farre  more  to  my  greeuance  than  these,  which  now  being  satisfied 
doo  not  much  annoie  me.  Therefore  saith  Malcolme,  suffer  me  to 
remaine  where  I  am,  least  if  I  atteine  to  the  regiment  of  your 
realme,  mine  inquenchable  auarice  may  prooue  such;  that  ye 
would  thinke  the  displeasures  which  now  grieue  you,  should  seeme 
easie  in  respect  of  the  vnmeasureable  outrage,  which  might  insue 
through  my  comming  amongst  you. 

" '  Makduffe  to  this  made  answer,  how  it  was  a  far  woorse  fault 
than  the  other:  for  auarice  is  the  root  of  all  mischiefe,  and  for 
that  crime  the  most  part  of  our  kings  haue  beene  slaine  and  brought 
to  their  finall  end.  Yet  notwithstanding  follow  my  counsel!,  and 
take  vpon  thee  the  crowne.  There  is  gold  and  riches  inough  in 
Scotland  to  satisfie  thy  greedie  desire.  Then  said  Malcolme  againe, 

1  The  obsolete  adverb  corresponding  to  the  adjective  fell,  and  = 
fiercely,  cruelly.  Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.  vi.  u.  48  :  — 

"  How  many  flyes,  in  whottest  sommers  day, 
Do  seize  upon  some  beast  whose  flesh  is  bare, 
That  all  the  place  with  swarmes  do  overlay, 
And  with  their  litle  stings  right  felly  fare,"  etc.  —  (Ed.) 


Notes  181 

I  am  furthermore  inclined  to  dissimulation,  telling  of  leasings,1  and 
all  other  kinds  of  deceit,  so  that  I  naturallie  reioise  in  nothing  so 
much,  as  to  betraie  &  deceiue  such  as  put  anie  trust  or  confidence 
in  my  woords.  Then  sith  there  is  nothing  that  more  becommeth  a 
prince  than  constancie,  veritie,  truth,  and  iustice,  with  the  other 
laudable  fellowship  of  those  faire  and  noble  vertues  which  are  com- 
prehended onelie  in  soothfastnesse,2  and  that  lieng  vtterlie  ouer- 
throweth  the  same;  you  see  how  vnable  I  am  to  gouerne  anie 
prouince  or  region :  and  therefore  sith  you  haue  remedies  to  cloke 
and  hide  all  the  rest  of  my  other  vices,  I  praie  you  find  shift  to 
cloke  this  vice  amongst  the  residue. 

" '  Then  said  Makduffe  :  This  yet  is  the  woorst  of  all,  and  there  I 
leaue  thee,  and  therefore  saie;  Oh  ye  vnhappie  and  miserable 
Scotishmen,  which  are  thus  scourged  with  so  manie  and  sundrie 
calamities,  ech  one  aboue  other !  Ye  haue  one  curssed  and 
wicked  tyrant  that  now  reigneth  ouer  you,  without  anie  right 
or  title,  oppressing  you  with  his  most  bloudie  crueltie.  This 
other  that  hath  the  right  to  the  crowne,  is  so  replet  with  the  in- 
constant behauiour  and  manifest  vices  of  Englishmen,  that  he  is 
nothing  woorthie  to  inioy  it :  for  by  his  owne  confession  he  is  not 
onelie  auaritious,  and  giuen  to  vnsatiable  lust,  but  so  false  a  traitor 
withall,  that  no  trust  is  to  be  had  vnto  anie  woord  he  speaketh. 
Adieu,  Scotland,  for  now  I  account  my  selfe  a  banished  man  for 
euer,  without  comfort  or  consolation :  and  with  those  woords  the 
brackish  teares  trickled  downe  his  cheekes  verie  abundantlie. 

"  '  At  the  last,  when  he  was  readie  to  depart,  Malcolme  tooke 
him  by  the  sleeue,  and  said :  Be  of  good  comfort  Makduffe,  for  I 
haue  none  of  these  vices  before  remembred,  but  haue  iested  with 

1  Falsehoods.     Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.  ii.  9.  51:  "And  all  that  fained  is, 
as  leasings,  tales,  and  lies."     See  also  Psalms,  iv.  2,  v.  6,   T.  N.  i.  5. 
105,  Cor.  v.  2.  22. —  (Ed.) 

2  Truthfulness.     On  sooth  =  truth,  see  note  on  i.  2.   36  below.     Cf. 
shamefastness  (=  modesty),  of  which  our  modern  shamefacedness  is  a 
corruption.  —  (Ed.) 


1 82  Notes 

thee  in  this  manner,  onelie  to  prooue  thy  mind :  for  diuerse  times 
heeretofore  hath  Makbeth  sought  by  this  manner  of  meanes  to 
bring  me  into  his  hands,  but  the  more  slow  I  haue  shewed  my  selfe 
to  condescend  to  thy  motion  and  request,  the  more  diligence  shall 
I  vse  in  accomplishing  the  same.  Incontinentlie  heereupon  they 
imbraced  ech  other,  and  promising  to  be  faithfull  the  one  to  the 
other,  they  fell  in  consultation  how  they  might  best  prouide  for  all 
their  businesse,  to  bring  the  same  to  good  effect.  Soone  after, 
Makduffe  repairing  to  the  borders  of  Scotland,  addressed  his  let- 
ters with  secret  dispatch  vnto  the  nobles  of  the  realme,  declaring 
how  Malcolme  was  confederat  with  him,  to  come  hastilie  into 
Scotland  to  claime  the  crowne,  and  therefore  he  required  them, 
sith  he  was  right  inheritor  thereto,  to  assist  him  with  their  powers 
to  recouer  the  same  out  of  the  hands  of  the  wrongfull  vsurper. 

"'In  the  meane  time,  Malcolme  purchased  such  fauor  at  king 
Edward's  hands,  that  old  Siward  earle  of  Northumberland,  was  ap- 
pointed with  ten  thousand  men  to  go  with  him  into  Scotland,  to 
support  him  in  this  enterprise,  for  recouerie  of  his  right.  After 
these  nevves  were  spread  abroad  in  Scotland,  the  nobles  drew  into 
two  seuerall  factions,  the  one  taking  part  with  Makbeth,  and  the  other 
with  Malcolme.  Heereupon  insued  oftentimes  sundrie  bickerings, 
&  diuerse  light  skirmishes :  for  those  that  were  of  Malcomes  side, 
would  not  ieopard  to  ioine  with  their  enimes  in  a  pight1  field,  till 
his  comming  out  of  England  to  their  support.  But  after  that  Mak- 
beth perceiued  his  enemies  power  to  increase,  by  such  aid  as  came 
to  them  foorth  of  England  with  his  aduersarie  Malcolme,  he  re- 
coiled backe  into  Fife,  there  purposing  to  abide  in  campe  fortified, 
at  the  castell  of  Dunsinane,  and  to  fight  with  his  enimies,  if  they 
ment  to  pursue  him;  howbeit  some  of  his  friends  aduised  him,  that 
it  should  be  best  for  him,  either  to  make  some  agreement  with 

l  Pitched.    Cf.  T.  and  C.  v.  10.  24 :  — 

"  You  vile  abominable  tents, 
Thus  proudly  pight  upon  our  Phrygian  plains." —  {Ed.) 


Notes  183 

Malcolme,  or  else  to  flee  with  all  speed  into  the  lies,  and  to  take 
his  treasure  with  him,  to  the  end  he  might  wage  l  sundrie  great 
princes  of  the  realme  to  take  his  part,  £  reteine  strangers,  in  whome 
he  might  better  trust  than  in  his  owne  subiects,  which  stale  dailie 
from  him :  but  he  had  such  confidence  in  his  prophesies,  that  he 
beleeued  he  should  neuer  be  vanquished,  till  Birnane  wood  were 
brought  to  Dunsinane;  nor  yet  .to  be  slaine  with  anie  man,  that 
should  be  or  was  borne  of  anie  woman. 

ACT  V.  Scene  IV.  —  "'Malcolme  following  hastilie  after  Mak- 
beth,  came  the  night  before  the  battell  vnto  Birnane  wood,  and  when 
his  armie  had  rested  a  while  there  to  refresh  them,  he  commanded 
euerie  man  to  get  a  bough  of  some  tree  or  other  of  that  wood  in  his 
hand,  as  big  as  he  might  beare,  and  to  march  foorth  therewith  in 
such  wise,  that  on  the  next  morrow  they  might  come  closelie  and 
without  sight  in  this  manner  within  viewe  of  his  enimies.  On  the 
morrow  when  Makbeth  beheld  them  comming  in  this  sort,  he  first 
maruelled  what  the  matter  ment,  but  in  the  end  remembered  him- 
selfe  that  the  prophesie  which  he  had  heard  long  before  that  time, 
of  the  comming  of  Birnane  wood  to  Dunsinane  castell,  was  likelie 
to  be  now  fulfilled.  Neuerthelesse,  he  brought  his  men  in  order  of 
battell,  and  exhorted  them  to  doo  valiantlie,  howbeit  his  enimies 
had  scarsely  cast  from  them  their  boughs,  when  Makbeth  per- 
ceiuing  their  numbers,  betooke  him  streict  to  flight,  whom  Mak- 
duffe  pursued  with  great  hatred  euen  till  he  came  vnto  Lunfan- 
naine,  where  Makbeth  perceiuing  that  Makduffe  was  hard  at  his 
backe,  leapt  beside  his  horsse,  saieng;  Thou  traitor,  what  meaneth 
it  that  thou  shouldest  thus  in  vaine  follow  me  that  am  not  appointed 
to  be  slaine  by  anie  creature  that  is  borne  of  a  woman,  come  on 
therefore,  and  receiue  thy  reward  which  thou  hast  deserued  for  thy 

1  Hire,  bribe.     Cf.  Cor.  v.  6.  40 :  — 

"  I  seem'd  his  follower,  not  partner,  and 
He  wag'd  me  with  his  countenance,  as  if 
I  had  been  mercenary."  —  (Ed.) 


1 84 


Notes 


paines,  and  therwithall  he  lifted  vp  his  swoord  thinking  to  haue 
slaine  him. 

ACT  V.  Scene  VIII.  —  "  '  But  Makduffe  quicklie  auoiding l  from 
his  horsse,  yer  he  came  at  him,  answered  (with  his  naked  swoord  in 
his  hand)  saieng :  It  is  true  Makbeth,  and  now  shall  thy  insatiable 
crueltie  haue  an  end,  for  I  am  euen  he  that  thy  wizzards  haue 
told  thee  of,  who  was  neuer  borne  of  my  mother,  but  ripped  out 
of  her  wombe :  therevvithall  he  stept  vnto  him,  and  slue  him  in  the 
place.  Then  cutting  his  head  from  his  shoulders,  he  set  it  vpon  a 
pole,  and  brought  it  vnto  Malcolme.  This  was  the  end  of  Mak- 
beth, after  he  had  reigned  17  yeeres  ouer  the  Scotishmen.  In  the 
beginning  of  his  reigne  he  accomplished  manie  woorthie  acts,  verie 
profitable  to  the  common-wealth,  (as  ye  haue  heard)  but  afterward 
by  illusion  of  the  diuell,  he  defamed  the  same  with  most  terrible 
crueltie.  He  was  slaine  in  the  yeere  of  the  incarnation  1057,  and 
in  the  16  yeere  of  king  Edwards  reigne  ouer  the  Englishmen. 

" '  Malcolme  Cammore  thus  recouering  the  relme  (as  ye  haue 
heard)  by  support  of  king  Edward,  in  the  16  yeere  of  the  same 
Edwards  reigne,  he  was  crowned  at  Scone  the  25  day  of  Aprill,  in 
the  yeere  of  our  Lord  1057.  Immediatlie  after  his  coronation  he 
called  a  parlement  at  Forfair,  in  the  which  he  rewarded  them  with 
lands  and  liuings  that  had  assisted  him  against  Makbeth,  aduancing 
them  to  fees  and  offices  as  he  saw  cause,  &  commanded  that 
speciallie  those  that  bare  the  surname  of  anie  offices  or  lands,  should 
haue  and  inioy  the  same.  He  created  manie  carles,  lords,  barons, 
and  knights.  Manie  of  them  that  before  were  thanes,  were  at  this 
time  made  carles,  as  Fife,  Menteth,  Atholl,  Leuenox,  Murrey, 
Cathnes,  Rosse,  and  Angus.  These  were  the  first  carles  that  haue 
beene  heard  of  amongst  the  Scotishmen,  (as  their  histories  doo 
make  mention.)  ' 

1  Withdrawing,  dismounting.  Cf.  W.  T.  1.2.  462:  "  Let  us  avoid;" 
Cor.  iv.  5.  34 :  "  here's  no  place  for  you ;  pray  you,  avoid."  See  also 
I  Samuel,  xviii.  n. —  (Ed.) 


Notes  185 


"  In  the  '  fift  Chapter '  of  '  the  eight  Booke  of  the  historic  of 
England,'  Shakespeare  found  the  account  of  young  Siward's  death 
(v.  7):- 

"'About  the  thirteenth  yeare  of  king  Edward  his  reigne  (as 
some  write)  or  rather  about  the  nineteenth  or  twentith  yeare,  as 
should  appeare  by  the  Scotish  writers,  Sivvard  the  noble  earle  of 
Northumberland  with  a  great  power  of  horssemen  went  into  Scot- 
land, and  in  battell  put  to  flight  Mackbeth  that  had  vsurped  the 
crowne  of  Scotland,  and  that  doone,  placed  Malcolme  surnamed 
Camoir,  the  sonne  of  Duncane,  sometime  king  of  Scotland,  in  the 
gouernement  of  that  realme,  who  afterward  slue  the  said  Mack- 
beth, and  then  reigned  in  quiet.  Some  of  our  English  writers  say 
that  this  Malcolme  was  king  of  Cumberland,  but  other  report  him 
to  be  sonne  to  the  king  of  Cumberland.  But  heere  is  to  be  noted, 
that  if  Mackbeth  reigned  till  the  yeare  1061,  and  was  then  slaine 
by  Malcolme,  earle  Si  ward  was  not  at  that  battell;  for  as  our 
writers  doo  testifie,  he  died  in  the  yeare  1055,  which  was  in  the 
yeare  next  after  (as  the  same  writers  affirme)  that  he  vanquished 
Mackbeth  in  fight,  and  slue  manie  thousands  of  Scots,  and  all  those 
Normans  which  (as  ye  haue  heard)  were  withdrawen  into  Scotland, 
when  they  were  driuen  out  of  England. 

" '  It  is  recorded  also,  that  in  the  foresaid  battell,  in  which  earle 
Siward  vanquished  the  Scots,  one  of  Siwards  sonnes  chanced  to  be 
slaine,  whereof  although  the  father  had  good  cause  to  be  sorrowfull, 
yet  when  he  heard  that  he  died  of  a  wound  which  he  had  receiued 
in  fighting  stoutlie  in  the  forepart  of  his  bodie,  and  that  with  his 
face  towards  the  enimie,  he  greatlie  reioised  thereat,  to  heare  that 
he  died  so  manfullie.  But  here  is  to  be  noted,  that  not  now,  but  a 
little  before  (as  Henrie  Hunt,  saith)  that  earle  Sivvard  went  into 
Scotland  himselfe  in  person,  he  sent  his  sonne  with  an  armie  to 
conquere  the  land,  whose  hap  was  there  to  be  slaine;  and  when 
his  father  heard  the  newes,  he  demanded  whether  he  receiued 
the  wound  whereof  he  died,  in  the  forepart  of  the  bodie,  or  in  the 
binder  part :  and  when  it  was  told  him  that  he  receiued  it  in  the 


1 86  Notes 

forepart  ;  I  reioise  (saith  he)  euen  with  all  my  heart,  for  I  would 
not  wish  either  to  my  sonne  nor  to  my  selfe  any  other  kind  of 
death.'  " 

DR.  FORMAN'S  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  PLAY.  —  The  manuscript 
mentioned  on  p..  9  above  is  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford. 
The  sketch  of  Macbeth  is  as  follows,  the  spelling  being  modernized  : 

"In  Macbeth,  at  the  Globe,  1610,  the  2Oth  of  April,  Saturday, 
there  was  to  be  observed  first  how  Macbeth  and  Banquo,  two 
noblemen  of  Scotland,  riding  through  a  wood,  there  stood  before 
them  three  women,  fairies  or  nymphs,  and  saluted  Macbeth,  saying 
three  limes  unto  him,  Hail,  Macbeth,  king  of  Codor,  for  thou  shall 
be  a  king,  but  shall  beget  no  kings,  etc.  Then  said  Banquo,  What, 
all  to  Macbeth  and  nothing  to  me?  Yes,  said  the  nymphs,  Hail,  to 
thee,  Banquo;  thou  shall  beget  kings,  yet  be  no  king.  And  so  they 
departed,  and  came  to  the  Court  of  Scotland,  to  Duncan  king  of 
Scots,  and  it  was  in  the  days  of  Edward  the  Confessor.  And 
Duncan  bade  them  both  kindly  welcome,  and  made  Macbeth  [sic'] 
forthwith  Prince  of  Northumberland,  and  sent  him  home  to  his 
own  castle,  and  appointed  Macbeth  to  provide  for  him,  for  he 
would  sup  with  him  the  next  day  at  night,  and  did  so.  And  Mac- 
beth contrived  to  kill  Duncan,  and  through  the  persuasion  of  his 
wife  did  that  night  murder  the  king  in  his  own  castle,  being  his 
guest.  And  there  were  many  prodigies  seen  that  night  and  the 
day  before.  And  when  Macbeth  had  murdered  the  king,  the  blood 
on  his  hands  could  not  be  washed  off  by  any  means,  nor  from  his 
wife's  hands,  which  handled  the  bloody  daggers  in  lading  them,  by 
which  means  they  became  both  much  amazed  and  affronted.  The 
murder  being  known,  Duncan's  two  sons  fled,  the  one  to  England, 
the  [other  to]  Wales,  to  save  themselves ;  they  being  fled,  they 
were  supposed  guilty  of  the  murder  of  their  father,  which  was  noth- 
ing so.  Then  was  Macbeth  crowned  king,  and  then  he  for  fear  of 
Banquo,  his  old  companion,  that  he  should  beget  kings  but  be  not 
king  himself,  he  contrived  the  death  of  Banquo,  and  caused  him  to 


Notes  1 87 


be  murdered  on  the  way  as  he  rode.  That  next  night,  being  at 
supper  with  his  noblemen,  whom  he  had  bid  to  a  feast,  to  the 
which  also  Banquo  should  have  come,  he  began  to  speak  of  noble 
Banquo,  and  to  wish  that  he  were  there.  And  as  he  thus  did, 
standing  up  to  drink  a  carouse  to  him,  the  ghost  of  Banquo  came 
and  sat  down  in  his  chair  behind  him.  And  he,  turning  about  to 
sit  down  again,  saw  the  ghost  of  Banquo,  which  fronted  him  so  that 
he  fell  in 'a  great  passion  of  fear  and  fury,  uttering  many  words 
about  his  murder,  by  which,  when  they  heard  that  Banquo  was 
murdered,  they  suspected  Macbeth.  Then  Macduff  fled  to  England 
to  the  king's  son,  and  so  they  raised  an  army  and  came  into  Scot- 
land, and  at  Dunscenanyse  overthrew  Macbeth.  In  the  mean  time, 
while  Macduff  was  in  England,  Macbeth  slew  Macduff's  wife  and 
children,  and  after,  in  the  battle,  Macduff  slew  Macbeth.  Observe 
also  how  Macbeth's  queen  did  rise  in  the  night  in  her  sleep,  and 
walked,  and  talked  and  confessed  all,  and  the  Doctor  noted  her 
words." 


FORRES 


ACT  I 

In  the  Folio  of  1623  the  acts  and  scenes  are  all  marked,  though 
the  play  is  perhaps  the  worst  printed  in  the  volume. 

SCENE  I. —  i.  This  trochaic  metre  is  elsewhere  used  by  S.  when 
supernatural  beings  are  speaking;  as  in  Temp,  and  M.  N.  D. 

The  folios  put  an  interrogation  mark  at  the  end  of  the  first  line. 

3.  Hurly-burly.  Doubtless  an  onomatopoetic  word,  as  Peacham 
explained  it  in  the  Garden  of  Eloquence  in  1577:  "  Onomatopeia, 
when  we  invent,  devise,  fayne.  and  make  a  name  intimating  the 
sound  of  that  it  signifyeth,  as  hurlyburly,  for  an  uprore  and 
tumultuous  stirre"  S.  uses  hurly-burly  only  here  and  in  I  Hen.  IV. 
188 


Scene  II]  Notes  189 

v.  I.  78,  where  it  is  an  adjective.  He  has  hurly  in  the  same  sense 
in  T.  of  S.  iv.  I.  216:  "amid  this  hurly;"  K.  John,  iii.  4.  169: 
"  Methinks  I  see  this  hurly  all  on  foot;"  and  2  Hen.  IV.  iii.  i.  25: 
"That  with  the  hurly  death  itself  awakes." 

8.  Graymalkin.     Also  spelled  Grimalkin  ;  it  means  a  gray  cat. 
Malkin  is  a  diminutive  of  Mary,  and,  like  maukin  (or  mawkiii) 
which  is  the  same  word,  is  often  used  as  a  common   noun  and 
contemptuously  (=  kitchen-wench);    as  in  Cor.  ii.  i.  224  and  Per. 
iv.  3.  34.     Cf.  Tennyson,  Princess,  v.  25 :  "a  draggled  mawkin." 
Malkin  is  the  name  of  one  of  the  witches  in  Middleton's  Witch. 

9.  Paddock.     A  toad.     R.  Scot  {Discovery  of  Witchcraft,  1584) 
says:  "Some  say  they  [witches]  can  keepe  divels  and  spirits  in  the 
likenesse  of  todes  and  cats."     Cf.  Ham.  iii.  4.  190.     In  New  Eng- 
land "  bull-paddock  "  is  a  popular  synonym  for  bullfrog. 

10.  Anon.    Presently,  immediately :  especially  by  waiters,  instead 
of  the  modern  "coming."     Cf.  I  Hen.  IV.  ii.  I.  5,  ii.  4.  29,  36,  41, 
49,  58,  etc. 

11.  Fair  is  foul,  etc.     "The  meaning  is,  that  to  us,  perverse  and 
malignant  «as  we  are,  fair  is  foul,  and  foul  is  fair"  (Johnson).    Cf. 
Spenser,  F.  Q.  iv.  8.  32 :  "  Then  faire  grew  foule,  and  foule  grew 
faire  in  sight." 

SCENE  II.  — A  few  of  the  critics  believe  that  this  scene  was  not 
written  by  S.,  but  there  seems  to  be  no  sufficient  reason  for  reject- 
ing it. 

i.  Bloody.  Bodenstedt  (cited  by  Furness)  remarks  that  "this 
word  bloody  reappears  on  almost  every  page,  and  runs  like  a  red 
thread  through  the  whole  piece  ;  in  no  other  of  Shakespeare's 
dramas  is  it  so  frequent." 

3.    Sergeant.     Here  a  trisyllable. 

5.  Hail.     Metrically  equivalent  to  a  dissyllable. 

6.  Say  .  .  .  the  knowledge.     Tell  what  you  know.     Cf.    Cymb. 
iv.  2.  376:  "say  his  name;"   C.  of  E.\.  \.  29:  "say,  in  brief,  the 
cause,"  etc. 


190 


Notes  [Act  I 


Broil.  Battle;  as  often  in  S.  Cf.  i  Hen.  IV.  i.  i.  3,  47>  Cor. 
iii.  2.  Si,  Oth.  i.  3.  87,  etc. 

9.  Choke  their  art.     Drown  each  other  by  rendering  tb.eir  skill 
useless.     Cf.  Mark,  v.  13. 

10.  To  that.     To  that  end.     "  His  multiplied  villainies  fit  him 
for  that  rebel's  trade"  (Moberly). 

13.  Of  kerns  and  gallowglasses.     Of  =  with;   as  often.     Kerns 
were  light-armed  soldiers.     See  Rich.  IT.  ii.  i.  156:  "rough  rug- 
headed   kerns."      Gallowglasses  were  heavy-armed  troops.     Cf.  2 
Hen.  VI.  iv.  9.  26 :  "  Of  gallowglasses  and  stout  kerns."     S.  takes 
both  words  from  Holinshed  (see  p.  1 66).     Cf.  v.  7.  17  below.     See 
also  Drayton,  Heroical  Epist. :  — • 

"  Bruce  now  shall  bring  his  Redshanks  from  the  seas, 
From  the  isled  Oreads  and  the  Hebrides; 
And  to  his  western  havens  give  free  pass 
To  land  the  Kerne  and  Irish  Galliglasse." 

14.  Quarrel.     As  the  word  occurs  in  Holinshed's  relation  of  this 
very  fact,  it  is  probably  the  right   one,  but  many  editers   retain 
quarry,  the  reading  of  the  early  eds.     For  quarrel  in  this  sense 
{cause  or  occasion  of  a  quarrel)  cf.  Bacon,  Essay  8 :  "  So  as  a  Man 
may  have  a  Quarrell  to  marry,  when  he  will ;"  Latimer,  Sermon  on 
Christmas  Day:  "to  live  and  die  in  God's  quarrel,"  etc.     Cf.  iv.  3. 
137:  "our  warranted  quarrel." 

15.  Showed.     Appeared.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  iv.  1.196:  — 

"  And  earthly  power  doth  then  show  likest  God's 
When  mercy  seasons  justice." 

The  meaning  is  that  Fortune,  while  she  smiled  on  him,  deceived 
him. 

19.  Minion.  Favourite,  darling.  It  is  the  French  mignon.  Cf. 
Temp.'\\.  i.  98:  "Mars's  hot  minion,"»etc.  The  word  would  be 
a  trisyllable  if  we  followed  the  folio  "  carv'd,"  but  the  editors  gen- 
erally make  carved  a  dissyllable. 


Scene  II]  Notes  19! 

21.  Which.     If  this  is  the  right  word,  it  is  equivalent  to  -who. 
There  may  be  some  corruption  of  the  text. 

22.  Nave.     Navel.     Cf.  Nash,  Dido  (1594):    "Then  from  the 
navel  to  the  throat  at  once  He  ript  old  Priam." 

24.  Cousin.      Macbeth  and  Duncan  were   both   grandsons   of 
King  Malcolm.     See  on  i.  3.  127  below. 

25.  Gins.     Not  a  contraction  of  begin,  but  the  original  word. 
Schmidt  also  gives  it  as  a  complete  word,  and  recognizes  can  in 
L.  L.  L.  iv.  3.  106  as  its  past  tense  —  an  old  form  which  Spenser 
sometimes  uses. 

The  general  meaning  of  this  passage  is :  "  As  thunder  and  storms 
sometimes  come  from  the  East,  whence  we  expect  the  sunrise,  so 
out  of  victory  a  new  danger  arises." 

31.  Norweyan.     The  spelling  of  the  folio,  as  in  line  49  and  i.  3. 
95  below.     Surveying  vantage  =  perceiving  his  opportunity ;    used 
in  a  different  sense  in  Rich.  III.  v.  3.  15  :  "  Let  us  survey  the  van- 
tage of  the  field." 

32.  FurbisKd.     Burnished;  that  is,  not  before  used  in  the  fight, 
not  yet  stained  with  blood. 

34.  Captains.     A  trisyllable  here;   like  the  old  form  capitain. 

36.  Sooth.     Truth.     Cf.  v..  5.  40  below. 

37.  Cracks.     Charges;   the  effect  being  put  for  the  cause.     For 
crack  =  report,  cf.  Temp.  i.  2.  203  and  T.  of  A.  ii.  I.  3.     The  word 
was  much  stronger  in  sense  (as  applied  to  sounds)  than  now.     Cf. 
iv.  i.  117  below. 

38.  Doubly  redoubled.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  i.  3.  80 :   "  thy  blows,  doubly 
redoubled." 

40.  Memorize.     Make  memorable,  render  famous.     The  mean- 
ing is,  "  make  another  Golgotha,  which  should  be  celebrated  like 
the  first."      Cf.  Hen.  VIII.  iii.*  2.  52.      For  Golgotha,  see  Mark, 
XV.  22. 

41.  I  cannot  tell.     I  know  not  what  to  say  or  think  of  it ;  as  in 
T.  of  S.  iv.  3.  22 :  "I  cannot  tell;   I  fear  't  is  choleric." 

43.   So  well.     We  should  say,  as  well. 


192 


Notes  [Act  i 


45.  Thane.     An  Anglo-Saxon  nobleman,  inferior  in  rank  to  an 
eorl  and  ealdorman. 

46.  So  should  he  look,  etc.    The  meaning  is,  "  So  should  he  look 
that  appears  to  be  on  the  point   of  speaking  things  strange,"  or 
"  whose  appearance  corresponds  with  the  strangeness  of  his  mes- 
sage."    Cf.  Rich.  II.  iii.  2.  194-197. 

49.  Flout.  Mock.  Cf.  K.  John,  v.  I.  72 :  "  Mocking  the  air 
with  colours  idly  spread." 

53.  Cawdor.     Cawdor  Castle  is  about  five  miles  south  of  Nairn 
and  about  fifteen  miles  from  Inverness.     The  royal  license  to  build 
it  was  granted  by  James  II.  in  1454.     There  is  a  tradition  that  a 
"  wise  man  "  counselled  the  Thane  of  Cawdor  to  load  an  ass  with 
a  chest  full  of  gold,  and  to  use  the  money  in  building  a  castle  at  the 
third  hawthorn  tree  at  which  the  beast  should  stop.     The  advice 
was  followed,  and  the  castle  built  round  the  tree,  the   trunk  of 
which  is  still  shown  in  the  basement  of  the  tower.     The  castle  is 
still  in  excellent  preservation,  being  used  as  a  summer  residence  by 
the  Earl  of  Cawdor. 

54.  Till  that.     That  is  often  used  as  "  a  conjunctional  affix,"  with 
if,  but,  lest,  when,  etc. 

Bellona's  bridegroom.  No  doubt  S.  means  to  compare  Macbeth 
to  Mars  (cf.  Rich.  II.  ii.  3.  100 :  "  the  Black  Prince,  that  young 
Mars  of  men"),  though  Mars  was  not  the  husband  of  Bellona. 
Lapp'd  in  proof  =  clad  in  armour  of  proof.  Cf.  Cymb.  v.  5,  360: 
"lapp'd  In  a  most  curious  mantle;  "  and  Rich.  II.  i.  3.  73:  "Add 
proof  unto  mine  armour  with  thy  prayers." 

55.  Confronted  him,   etc.     That    is,  gave  him  as   good  as  he 
brought,  showed  he  was  his  equal.     Him  refers  to  Norway. 

57.  Lavish.     Unrestrained,  insolent.     Cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  4.  62: 
"lavish  manners;  "  and  I  Hen.  VI.  ii.  5.  47:  "his  lavish  tongue." 

58.  That  now.    The  omission  of  so  with  that  is  common.     Cf 
i.  7.  8,  ii.  2.  7,  ii.  2.  23,  iv.  3.  6,  iv.  3.  82,  etc. 

59.  Composition.    Terms  of  peace.     Cf.  M.  for  M.  i.  2.  2 :  "  If 
the  duke  with  the  other  dukes  come  not  to  composition  with  tne 


Scene  III]  Notes  193 

king  of  Hungary,  why  then  all  the  dukes  fall  upon  the  king." 
Norways1  =  Norwegians'. 

61.  Saint  Colme's  Inch.    The  Island  of  St.  Columba,  now  Inch- 
colm,  an  islet  in  the  Firth  of  Forth,  about  two  miles  south  of  Aber- 
dour.     Here  are  the  remains  of  a  monastery  founded  in  1123  by 
Alexander  II.,  who  had  been  driven  on  the  island  by  stress  of 
weather.    There  is  also  an  oratory  of  rude  construction,  probably  as 
old  as  the  gth  century.    St.  Columba  is  said  to  have  resided  here  for 
a  time;   but  the  island  must  not  be  confounded  with  Colmes-kill, 
Icolmkill,  or  lona,  the  Island  of  St.  Columba,  on  the  west  coast  of 
Scotland,  where  "  the  gracious  Duncan  "  (see  ii.  4.  33  below)  was 
laid  beside  his  royal  predecessors.     Inch  (the  Gaelic  inis,  island)  is 
found  in  the  names  of  many  Scotch  islands,  as  Inchkeith,  Inchken- 
neth,  Inchmurrin,  Inchcruin,  Clairinch,  Torrinch,  Bucinch,  etc. 

62.  Dollars.      Of  course,  an  anachronism,  the  thaler,  or  dollar, 
having  been  first  coined  about  1518,  in  the  Valley  of  St.  Joachim, 
Bohemia.      Thaler  is  derived  from  thai,  valley. 

64.  Bosom  interest.  Intimate  affection.  Cf.  M.  of  V.  iii.  4.  17: 
"  bosom  lover."  Present  =  immediate.  Cf.  J.  C.  ii.  2.  5  :  "  Go  bid 
the  priests  do  present  sac/ifice;  "  2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  3.  80:  "To  York, 
to  present  execution."  So  presently  =  instantly;  as  in  iv.  3.  145 
below.  See  another  example  in  the  next  note. 

SCENE  III.  —  2.  Killing  swine.  Witches  were  often  suspected  of 
malice  against  swine.  "  Harsnet  observes  that,  about  that  time,  a 
sow  could  not  be  sick  of  the  measles,  nor  a  girl  of  the  sullens,  but 
some  old  woman  was  charged  with  witchcraft "  (Johnson.)  Stee- 
vens  cites  A  Detection  of  Damnable  Driftes  practized  by  Three 
Witches,  etc.  (1579):  "she  came  on  a  tyme  to  the  house  of  one 
Robert  Lathburie,  .  .  .  who,  dislyking  her  dealyng,  sent  her  home 
emptie ;  but  presently  after  her  departure,  his  hogges  fell  sicke  and 
died,  to  the  number  of  twentie." 

5.    Give  me.     For  the  omission  of  the  direct  object,  cf.  R.  and  J. 
iv.  i.  121 :  "  Give  me,  give  me  !  " 
MACBETH —  13 


i^4  Notes  [Act  I 

6.  Aroint  thee.     Cf.  Lear,  iii.  4.  129 :  "  Aroint  thee,  witch,  aroint 
thee!"     The  meaning  is  evidently  "Away  with   thee!"   but  the 
derivation  of  aroint  is  unknown  (New  Eng.  Diet.}. 

Rump-fed.  According  to  Colepepper,  this  means  fed  on  offal 
(kidneys,  rumps,  and  other  scraps  being  among  the  low  perquisites 
of  the  kitchen  given  away  to  the  poor) ;  but  more  likely  it  means 
well-fed:  "she  fed  on  best  joints,  I  hungry  and  begging  for  a 
chestnut"  (Moberly).  Ronyon  =  a.  scabby  or  mangy  woman. 
The  word  is  used  again  in  M.  W.  iv.  2.  195. 

7.  Aleppo.     From  this  place  there  was  a  large  caravan  trade  to 
Ispahan,  Bussora,  and  Damascus.     In  Hakluyt's    Voyages    (1589) 
there  are  accounts  of  a  voyage  made  to  Aleppo  by  the  ship  Tiger  of 
London,  in  1583.     Cf.  '/'.  ;V.  v.  i.  65  :  "And  this  is  he  that  did 
the  Tiger  board." 

8.  A  sieve.    A  favourite  craft  with  witches.     Sir  W.  Davenant 
says,  in  his  Albovine  (1629)  :   "He  sits  like  a  witch  sailing  in  a 
sieve." 

9.  Without  a  tail.     It  was  believed  that  a  witch  could  take  the 
form  of  any  animal,  but  that  the  tail  would  be  wanting.     Accord- 
ing to  Sir  F.  Madden,  one  distinctive  mark  of  a  werwolf,  or  human 
being  changed  to  a  wolf,  was  the  absence  of  a  tail. 

10.  /  'It  do.    That  is,  like  a  rat,  gnaw  through  the  hull  of  the 
Tiger  and  make  her  leak. 

11.  /  '// give  thee  a  wind.     Witches  were  generally  supposed  to 
sell  winds.     Cf.  Sumner's  Last  Will  and  Testament  (1600)  :  — 

"  in  Ireland  and  Denmark  both, 
Witches  for  gold  will  sell  a  man  a  wind, 
Which,  in  the  corner  of  a  napkin  wrap'd, 
Shall  blow  him  safe  unto  what  coast  he  will." 

15.  And  the  very  ports  they  blow.  That  is,  to  which  they 
blow. 

17.  The  shipmates  card.  The  card  of  the  compass.  Halliwell- 
Phillipps  quotes  The  Loyal  Subject:  — 


Scene  III]  Notes  195 

"  The  card  of  goodness  in  your  minds,  that  shews  ye 
When  ye  sail  false ;  the  needle  touch'd  with  honour, 
That  through  the  blackest  storms  still  points  at  happiness,"  etc. 

Cf.  also  Pope,  Essay  on  Man,  ii.  108  :  — 

"  On  life's  vast  ocean  diversely  we  sail, 
Reason  the  card,  but  passion  is  the  gale." 

For  shipman,  cf.   T.  and  C.  \.  2.   172;   also  I  Kings,  ix.  27  and 
Acts,  xxvii.  27,  30. 

20.  Pent-house  lid.     A  pent-house  was  a  porch  with  sloping  roof, 
common    in   the    domestic  architecture  of  the  time  of  S.     There 
was  one  on  the  house   in  which    he  was   born.     Cf.   Much   Ado, 
iii.  3.  1 10 :  "  under  this  pent-house,"  etc.  ;    also  Drayton,  David 
and  Goliath  :  — 

"  His  brows,  like  two  steep  pent-houses,  hung  down 
Over  his  eyelids." 

21.  Forbid.     Under  a  ban,  or  accursed. 

32.  Weird.     The  folios  have  "  weyward,"  but  weird  is  Holin- 
shed's  word.     "  The  weird  sisters  "  is  Gawin  Douglas's  translation 
of  Virgil's  "  Parcae."     For  the    dissyllabic   pronunciation    of  the 
word,  cf.  ii.  i.  20,  iii.  4.  133,  and  iv.  I.  136. 

33.  Posters.     Rapid  travellers. 

34.  About,  about,  etc.     The  witches  here  take    hold    of  hands 
.and  dance  in  a  ring  nine  times,  three  rounds  for  each  witch.     Mul- 
tiples of  three  were  specially  affected  by  witches. 

38.  Foul  and  fair.     Macbeth  and  Banquo  appear  to  be  talking 
about  the  recent  battle  and  its  varying  fortune. 

39.  Forres.     Forres  is  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  Moray  Frith, 
about  twenty-five  miles  from  Inverness.     At  its  western  extremity 
there  is  a  height  commanding  the  river,  the  level  country  to  the 
south,  and  the  town.      Here  are  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  castle,  a 
stronghold  of  the  Earls  of  Moray.     Some  believe  that  it  was  the 
residence  of  Duncan,  and  afterwards  of  Macbeth,  when  the  court 


196 


Notes  [Act  I 


was  at  Forres.  Not  far  distant  is  the  famous  "blasted  heath,"  uf 
which  Knight  says  :  "  There  is  not  a  more  dreary  piece  of  moor- 
land to  be  found  in  all  Scotland.  It  is  without  tree  or  shrub.  A 
few  patches  of  oats  are  visible  here  and  there,  and  the  eye  reposes 
on  a  fir  plantation  at  one  extremity;  but  all  around  is  bleak  and 
brown,  made  up  of  peat  and  bog  water,  white  stones  and  bushes  of 
furze.  The  desolation  of  the  scene  in  stormy  weather,  or  when  the 
twilight  fogs  are  trailing  over  the  pathless  heath  or  settling  down 
upon  the  pools,  must  be  indescribable." 

43.  That  man  may  question.  With  whom  man  may  hold  con- 
verse, or  whom  he  may  question. 

46.  Beards.  Cf.  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  Honest  Man's  for- 
tune, ii.  I  :  — 

"  And  the  women  that 

Come  to  us,  for  disguises  must  wear  beards ; 
And  that 's,  they  say,  a  token  of  a  witch." 

See  also  M.  W.  iv.  2.  202  :  "  I  think  the  'oman  is  a  witch  indeed; 
I  like  not  when  a  'oman  has  a  great  peard." 

48.  Glamis.  In  Scotland  pronounced  as  a  monosyllable,  with 
the  first  vowel  as  in  alms.  Glamis,  or  Glammis,  is  a  village  about 
twenty-five  miles  north-east  of  Perth,  in  a  very  beautiful  situation. 
Near  by  is  Glamis  Castle,  "  perhaps  the  finest  and  most  picturesque 
of  the  Scottish  castles  now  inhabited."  In  its  present  form,  it 
dates  back  only  to  the  I7th  century,  though  portions  of  it  are  much 
older.  The  original  castle  was  frequently  used  as  a  residence  by 
the  Scottish  kings,  especially  by  Alexander  II.  in  1263-64.  Robert 
II.  gave  it  to  John  Lyon,  who  had  married  his  daughter,  but  in 
1537  it  reverted  to  the  Crown,  and  James  V.  occupied  it  for  some 
time.  In  front  of  the  manse  at  Glamis  is  an  ancient  sculptured 
obelisk  called  "  King  Malcolm's  Gravestone,"  and  here  tradition 
says  he  was  buried. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  says  :  "  I  was  only  nineteen  or  twenty  years  old 
when  I  happened  to  pass  a  night  in  this  magnificent  old  baronial 
castle.  The  hoary  old  pile  contains  much  in  its  appearance,  and  in 


Scene  III]  Notes  197 

the  traditions  connected  with  it,  impressive  to  the  imagination.  It 
was  the  scene  of  the  murder  of  a  Scottish  king  of  great  antiquity; 
not  indeed  the  gracious  Duncan,  with  whom  the  name  naturally 
associates  it,  but  Malcolm  II.  It  contains  also  a  curious  monu- 
ment of  the  peril  of  feudal  times,  being  a  secret  chamber,  the  en- 
trance to  which,  by  the  law  or  custom  of  the  family,  must  only  be 
known  to  three  persons  at  once  —  the  Earl  of  Strathmore,  his  heir- 
apparent,  and  any  third  person  whom  they  may  take  into  their 
confidence.  The  extreme  antiquity  of  the  building  is  vouched  by 
the  immense  thickness  of  the  walls,  and  the  wild  and  straggling 
arrangement  of  the  accommodation  within  doors.  I  was  conducted 
to  my  apartment  in  a  distant  corner  of  the  building;  and  I  must 
own  that,  as  I  heard  door  after  door  shut,  after  my  conductor  had 
retired,  I  began  to  consider  myself  too  far  from  the  living  and 
somewhat  too  near  the  dead." 

51.  Good  sir,  why  do  you  start,  etc.  Coleridge  comments  on 
this  speech  and  the  context  as  follows  :  — 

"  But  O !  how  truly  Shakespearian  is  the  opening  of  Macbeth's 
character  given  in  the  unpossessedness  of  Banquo's  mind,  wholly 
present  to  the  present  object  —  an  unsullied,  unscarified  mirror ! 
And  how  strictly  true  to  nature  it  is  that  Banquo,  and  not  Macbeth 
himself,  directs  our  notice  to  the  effect  produced  on  Macbeth's 
mind,  rendered  temptable  by  previous  dalliance  of  the  fancy  with 
ambitious  thoughts  :  — 

'  Good  sir,  why  do  you  start,  and  seem  to  fear 
Things  that  do  sound  so  fair  ?  ' 

And  then,  again,  still  unintroitive,  addresses  the  witches :  — 

'  I'  the  name  of  truth, 
Are  ye  fantastical,  or  that  indeed 
Which  outwardly  ye  show  ? ' 

Banquo's  questions  are  those  of  natural  curiosity  —  such  as  a  girl 
would  put  after  hearing  a  gipsy  tell  her  school-fellow's  fortune;  — 
all  perfectly  general,  or  rather  planless.  But  Macbeth,  lost  in 


198  Notes  [Act  i 

thought,  raises  himself  to  speech  only  by  the  witches  being  about 
to  depart:  'Stay,  you  imperfect  speakers,  tell  me  more;'  and  all 
that  follows  is  reasoning  on  a  problem  already  discussed  in  his 
mind  —  on  a  hope  which  he  welcomes,  and  the  doubts  concerning 
the  attainment  of  which  he  wishes  to  have  cleared  up." 

53.  Fantastical.     That  is,  creatures  of  fantasy,  or  imagination. 
The  word  occurs  in  Holinshed's  account  of  this  interview  with  the 
weird  sisters  (see  p.    172).      Cf.  line  139  below,  and  Kick.  II.  i. 

3-  299- 

54.  Show.     Appear.     See  on  i.  2.  15. 

56.  Having.     Possession,  estate.      Cf.  M.  W.\\\.  2.  73:    "The 
gentleman  is  of  no  having;"    T.  of  A.  ii.  2.  153  :  — 

"  The  greatest  of  your  having  lacks  a  half 
To  pay  your  present  debts." 

See  also  Hen.  VIII.  ii.  3.  23  and  iii.  2.  159. 

57.  That.     On  the  omission  of  so,  see  i.  2.  58  above. 

60.    Who  neither  beg,  etc.     Who  neither  beg  your  favours  nor 
fear  your  hate.     Cf.  ii.  3.  48  below,  and  IV.  T.  iii.  2.  164:  — • 

"  Though  I  with  death  and  with 
Reward  did  threaten  and  encourage  him." 

The  figure  (called  by  some  rhetoricians  a  form  of  chiasmus,  or 
chiasni)  is  a  favourite  with  S.  See  other  examples  of  it  in 
i  Hen.  VI.  \.  5.  23,  24,  C.  of  E.  ii.  2.  115-120,  M.  N.  D.  iii.  i.  113, 
114  (where  five  verbs  are  followed  by  five  nouns),  Temp.  i.  2. 
334,  335,  A.  and  C.  iii.  2.  15-18  (six  nouns  and  verbs)  and  iv.  15. 
25,  26,  Ham.  iii.  I.  158,  159,  Lear,  iv.  2.  65,  66,  and  Cymb.  iii. 
I.  3,  4.  In  the  last  three  instances  the  order  of  nouns  and  verbs  is 
irregular. 

65.  Lesser.     Still  sometimes  used  as  an  adjective,  but  never  ad- 
verbially, as  in  T.  and  C.  ii.  2.  8:  "Though  no  man  lesser  fears 
the  Greeks  than  I."     See  also  v.  2.  13  below. 

66.  Happy.      Fortunate;    like  the   Latin  felix.     Cf.  Lear,  iv. 
6.  230. 


Scene  III]  Notes  199 

67.  Get.  Beget;  but  not  a  contraction  of  that  word.  See  note 
on  i.  2.  25  above. 

71.  Sine!.     The  father  of  Macbeth,  according  to   Holinshed. 
Ritson  says  his  true  name  was  Finleg  (Finley). 

72.  Johnson  asks:  "  How  can  Macbeth  be  ignorant  of  the  state 
of  the  thane  whom  he  has  just  defeated  and  taken  prisoner  (see  i. 
2.  50  fol.),  or  call  him  a  prosperous  gentleman  who  has  forfeited 
his  title  and  life  by  open  rebellion?     He  cannot  be  supposed  to 
dissemble,  because  nobody  is  present  but  Banquo,  who  was  equally 
acquainted  with  Cawdor's  treason."     See  Introduction,  p.  16  above. 

76.  Owe.  Own,  have;  as  very  often.  Cf.  Rich.  IL  iv.  I.  184: 
"That  owes  two  buckets,"  etc. 

81.  Corporal.  Corporeal.  S.  never  uses  corporeal  or  incor- 
poreal. He  has  incorporal  in  Ham.  Hi.  4.  118:  "  the  incorporal 


air. 


On.  Cf.  /.  C.  i.  2.  71 :  "jealous  on  me;"  M.  of  V.  ii.  6. 
67  :  "  glad  on  't,"  etc.  The  insane  root  is  an  example  of  "  pro- 
lepsis";  insane  =  making- insane.  It  is  impossible  to  decide  what 
plant  is  meant.  Steevens  quotes  Greene,  Never  too  Late  (1616)  : 
"  you  have  eaten  of  the  roots  of  hemlock,  that  makes  men's  eyes 
conceit  unseen  objects."  "  Root  of  hemlock  "  is  one  of  the  ingre- 
dients of  the  witches'  cauldron,  iv.  I.  25.  Douce  cites  Batman, 
Uppon  Bartholome  de  Prop.  Kerum  :  "  Henbane  ...  is  called  in- 
sana,  mad,  for  the  use  thereof  is  perillous,  for  if  it  be  eate  or 
dronke,  it  breedeth  madnesse,  or  slow  lyknesse  of  sleepe."  The 
deadly  nightshade  (Atropa  belladonna}  has  also  been  suggested. 
Gerard,  in  his  Herball,  says  of  it :  "  This  kinde  of  Nightshade 
causeth  sleepe,  troubleth  the  minde,  bringeth  madness,  if  a  few 
of  the  berries  be  inwardly  taken."  John  Bauhin,  in  his  Histjria 
Plantarum,  says :  "  Hyoscyamus  was  called  herba  insana."  Insane 
is  used  by  S.  only  here.  The  accent  is  on  the  first  syllable. 

89.  Ross.  Some  editors  print  the  name  Rosse;  but  as  French 
(Shakespeareana  Genealogtca)  points  out,  that  is  "  an  Irish  dignity," 
and  should  not  be  confounded  with  this  Scottish  title,  which 


2OO  Notes  [Act  i 

"  really  belonged  to  Macbeth,  who,  long  before  the  action  of  the 
play  begins,  was  Thane,  or  more  properly,  Maormor  of  Ross  by  the 
death  of  his  father,  Finley." 

92,  93.  Thine  refers  to  praises,  his  to  wonders,  and  the  reference 
is  to  the  conflict  in  the  king's  mind  between  his  astonishment  at  the 
achievement  and  his  admiration  of  the  achiever.  Silenced  with 
that  has  been  variously  explained,  but  it  probably  refers  to  this 
mental  conflict. 

96.  Nothing  afeard.     Nothing  is  often  used  adverbially.     S.  uses 
afeard  32  times  and  afraid  44  times  (including  the  poems  as  well 
as  the  plays). 

97.  As  thick  as  tale.     That  is,  as  fast  as  they  could  be  counted. 
The  folio  reading  is  "  as  thick  as  Tale  Can  post  with  post,"  etc. 
Came  for  "Can"  is  generally  adopted.      Tale,  in  this  sense  (num- 
bering, counting),  is  not  found  elsewhere  in  S.,  but  it  was  then  a 
common  word.     Cf.  Exodus,  v.  8.  18,  I  Samuel,  xviii.  27,  I   Chron- 
icles, ix.  28,  etc.     Some  editors,  however,  adopt  the  plausible  emen- 
dation, "As  thick  as  hail." 

106.  Addition.     Title.     Cf.    Cor.   i.  9.    66,  Hen.   V.  v.  2.  467, 
Ham.  i.  4.  20,  M.  W.  ii.  2.  312,  etc. 

107.  Devil.     Metrically  a  monosyllable,  like  the   Scotch  de'ii. 
So  whether  in  1 1 1  just  below. 

108.  The  thane  of  Cawdor  lives,  etc.     See  on  line  72  above. 

109.  Who.     He  who;    a  common  ellipsis. 

112.  Line.     Strengthen,  fortify.     Cf.  i  Hen.  IV.  ii.  3.  86:  "To 
line  his  enterprise;"  Hen.  V.  ii.  4.  7 :  "To  line  and  new  repair  our 
towns  of  war." 

113.  Vantage.     See  on  i.  2.  31  above. 

114.  Wrack.     The  spelling  wreck  is  never  found  in  the  early 
eds.     It  rhymes  with  back  in  v.   5.  52  below,  and  in  four  other 
passages  in  S. ;   also  with  alack  once. 

1 20.  Trusted  home.     Trusted  completely.      Cf.  the   expression 
still  in  use,  "  to  strike  home." 

121.  Enkindle  you  unto.     Incite  you  to  hope  for.     Cf.  A.   Y.  L. 


Scene  III]  Notes  2OI 

i.  I.  179:  "nothing  remains  but  that  I  kindle  the  boy  thither" 
(that  is,  incite  him  to  it). 

127.  Cousins.     The  word  was  loosely  used  in  the  time  of  S., 
being  applied  by  him  to  nephew,  niece,  uncle,  brother-in-law,  and 
grandchild.     It  was  sometimes  a  mere  complimentary  title  given  by 
one  prince  to  another  or  to  distinguished  noblemen. 

128.  Swelling  act.     Cf.  Hen.  V.  prol.  4:  — 

"  princes  to  act, 
And  monarchs  to  behold  the  swelling  scene." 

130.    Soliciting.     That  is,  incitement. 

135.  Unfix  my  hair.     Cf.  v.  5.  11-13. 

136.  Seated.     Fixed,  firmly  placed.     Cf.  Milton,  P.  L.  vi.  644: 
"the  seated  hills." 

137.  Present  fears.     For  fear  =  object  of  fear,  cf.  M.  N.  ZX  v. 

I.  21 :  — 

"  Or  in  the  night,  imagining  some  fear, 

How  easy  is  a  bush  suppos'd  a  bear !  " 

139.  Fantastical.     See  on  53  above.     Murther  and  murder  are 
used  indiscriminately  in  the  early  eds. 

140.  My  single  state  of  man.      Here  single  may  mean  "indi- 
vidual "  (Schmidt)  or  perhaps  "  weak,"  as  others  explain  it.    On  the 

passage,  cf./.  C.  ii.  I.  67:  — 

"the  state  of  man, 

Like  to  a  little  kingdom,  suffers  then 
The  nature  of  an  insurrection." 

Cf.  also  T.  and  C.  ii.  3.  184:  — 

"  'rwixt  his  mental  and  his  active  parts 
Kingdom'd  Achilles  in  commotion  rages, 
And  batters  down  himself." 

For  single  =  weak,  unsupported,  cf.  Temp.  i.  2.  432 :  "  A  single 
thiiTg,  as  I  am  now."  This  may  also  be  the  meaning  in  i.  6.  16 
below. 


2O2  Notes  [Act  i 

That  function,  etc.  "  All  powers  of  action  are  oppressed  and 
crushed  by  one  overwhelming  image  in  the  mind,  and  nothing  is 
present  to  me  but  that  which  is  really  future.  Of  things  now  about 
me  I  have  no  perception,  being  intent  wholly  on  that  which  has  yet 
no  existence  "  (Johnson). 

144.  Stir.     Motion,  action.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  ii.  3.  51,  etc. 

Come.  Cf.  R.  of  L.  1784:  "Weak  words,  so  thick  come  in  his 
poor  heart's  aid." 

145.  Our  strange  garments.     That  is,  new  ones. 

147.  Time  and  the  hour,  etc.  That  is,  time  and  occasion  will 
carry  the  thing  through,  let  its  nature  be  what  it  will.  A  singular 
verb  (like  runs  here)  is  often  found  with  two  singular  nominatives, 
even  when  they  are  not  so  closely  connected  in  sense  as  in  this 
instance. 

149.  Favour.  Indulgence,  pardon.  Wrought  =  agitated.  Cf. 
W.  T.  v.  3.  58 :  - 

"  If  I  had  thought  the  sight  of  my  poor  image 
Would  thus  have  wrought  you." 

151.    Registered.     That  is,  in  his  memory. 

154.  The  interim  having  weighed.  That  is,  having  allowed  time 
for  weighing,  or  considering  it. 

SCENE  IV.  —  9.  Had  been  studied.  Had  made  it  his  study.  Cf. 
M.  of  V,  ii.  2.  205  :  — 

"  Like  one  well  studied  in  a  sad  ostent 
To  please  his  grandam." 

10.  Owed.     See  on  i.  3.  76  above. 

11.  As'twere.     As  if  it  were.    Cf.  ii.  2.  27  below;   and  for  care- 
less in  the  passive  sense  (=  uncared-for),  cf.  sightless  =  invisible,  in 
i.  7.  23. 

There  's  no  art,  etc.  "  Duncan's  childlike  spirit  makes  a  mo- 
ment's pause  of  wonder  at  the  act  of  treachery,  and  then  fling." 
itself,  like  Gloster  in  King  Lear,  with  still  more  absolute  trust  ana 


Scene  IV]  Notes  203 

still  more  want  of  reflection,  into  the  toils  of  a  far  deeper  and  darker 
treason.  The  pause  on  the  word  trust,  shortening  the  line  by  two 
syllables,  is  in  this  point  of  view  very  suggestive"  (Moberly). 

19.  Proportion.     The  proper  proportion.     Cf.  T.  and  C.  i.  3.  87  : 
"  proportion,  season,  form." 

20.  Mine.     In  my  power,  mine  to  give ;  as  all  in  the  next  lint- 
means  all  /  have. 

23.   Pays  itself.     Is  its  own  reward. 

27.   Safe  toward.     With  sure  tendency,  or  certain  direction. 

30.   Nor.     We  should  now  use  And.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  iii.  4.  n: 
"Nor  shall  not  now." 

33.   My  plenteous  joys,  etc.     Cf.  R.  and  J.  iii.  2.  102:  — 
"  Back,  foolish  tears,  back  to  your  native  spring; 
Your  tributary  drops  belong  to  woe, 
Which  you,  mistaking,  offer  up  to  joy ;  " 

and  W.  T.  v.  2.  47  :  "  There  might  you  have  beheld  one  joy  crown 
another,  so  and'in  such  manner  that  it  seemed  sorrow  wept  to  take 
leave  of  them,  for  their  joy  waded  in  tears." 

37.  We  will  establish  our  estate,  etc.  The  throne  of  Scotland 
was  originally  not  hereditary. 

39     Cumberland.     When  the  successor  to  the  throne  was  desig- 
nated in  the  lifetime  of  the  king,  the  title  of  Prince  of  Cumberland 
was  bestowed  upon  him.     Cumberland  was  at  that  time  helc 
Scotland  of  the  crown  of  England  as  a  fief. 

45.  Harbinger.  Used  here  in  its  original  sense  of  an  officer 
whose  duty  it  was  to  ride  in  advance  of  the  king  and  secure  lodg- 
ings for  the  royal  retinue.  Nares  cites  the  old  play  of  Albumaz, 

vii.  137:  — 

"  I  have  no  reason,  nor  spare  room  lor  any. 
Love's  harbinger  hath  chalk'd  upon  my  heart, 
And  with  a  coal  writ  on  my  brain,  for  Flavia, 
This  house  is  wholly  taken  up  for  Flavia" 

It  appears  that  the  custom  was  kept  up  as  late  as  the  time  of 
Charles  II.     Hawkins,  in  his  Life  of  Bishop  Ken,  says:   "On  the 


204  Notes  [Act  i 

removal  of  the  court  to  pass  the  summer  at  Winchester,  Bishop 
Ken's  house,  which  he  held  in  the  right  of  his  prebend,  was 
marked  by  the  harbinger  for  the  use  of  Mrs.  Eleanor  Gwyn;  but 
he  refused  to  grant  her  admittance,  and  she  was  forced  to  seek  for 
lodgings  in  another  place." 

50.  Stars,  hide  your  fires !  This  does  not  imply  that  it  is  now 
night,  but  only  that  he  looks  forward  to  night  as  the  time  for  com- 
mitting the  crime. 

52.    The  eye,  etc.     Let  the  eye  not  see  what  the  hand  does. 

54.  Full  so  valiant.  Quite  as  brave  as  you  say.  While  Macbeth 
has  been  soliloquizing,  Duncan  and  Banquo  have  been  talking  about 
his  recent  deeds. 

56.  Banquet.  Feast.  It  sometimes  meant  merely  the  dessert. 
Cf.  T.  of  S.v.  2.  9  :  - 

"  My  banquet  is  to  close  our  stomachs  up 
After  our  great  good  cheer." 

58.  It  is.  The  it  is  here  used  with  "affectionate  familiarity." 
Often  it  expresses  contempt  or  detestation  ;  as  in  Temp.  i.  2.  309, 
M.  of  V.  i.  2.  15,  Hen.  V.  iii.  6.  70,  etc. 

SCENE  V.  —  2.  By  the  perfectest  report.  By  the  best  intelligence 
—  that  of  experience. 

4.  They  made  themselves  air.     Sheridan  Knowles  remarks  that 
in  the  look  and  tone  with  which  Mrs.  Siddons  delivered  the  word 
air  "you  recognized  ten  times  the  wonder  with  which  Macbeth 
and  Banquo  actually  beheld  the  vanishing  of  the  witches." 

5.  Whiles.     Properly  the  genitive  of  while,  meaning  "of,    or 
during,  the  time."     Cf.  Matthew,  v.  25. 

6.  Missives.     Messengers;   as  in  the  only  other  instance  in  which 
S.  uses  the  word  (A.  and  C.  ii.  2.  74). 

7.  All-hailed.     The    folio   has   the   hyphen.      Cf.    Florio   (ftal. 
Diet.)  :  "  Salutare,  to  salute,  to  greet,  to  alhaile." 

10.  Deliver  thee.  Report  to  thee.  Cf.  Temp.  v.  i.  313:  "I'll 
deliver  all,"  etc. 


Scene  V]  Notes  205 

17.  It  is  too  full  o1  the  milk  of  human  kindness.  For  the  meta- 
phor, cf.  iv.  3.  98  below,  R.  and  J.  iii.  3.  55,  and  Lear,  i.  4.  364. 

20.  The  illness  should.  The  evil  which  should.  S.  uses  ill- 
ness only  here;  and  the  word  does  not  occur  at  all  in  Milton's 
poems. 

22-25.  Thou  >dst  have,  etc.  The  general  meaning  seems  to  be  : 
"  You  want  to  have  what  can  only  be  obtained  on  conditions  which 
it  proclaims  of  itself;  you  wish  also  to  have  what  you  rather  fear  to 
do  than  wish  not  to  be  done." 

25.  Hie  thee.  Here,  as  in  "Look  thee "  (W.  T.  iii.  3-  Il6)> 
"Hark  thee"  (Cymb.  i.  5.  32),  etc.,  thee  seems  to  be  used  for 

thou. 

27.  Chastise.     Accented  by  S.  on  the  first  syllable.     Cf.  Rich.  II. 

ii.  3.  104. 

28.  The  golden  round.     Cf.  iv.  I.  88:  — 

"  And  wears  upon  his  baby  brow  the  round 
And  top  of  sovereignty." 

29.  Metaphysical.     Supernatural  (to  which  word  it  is  etymolog- 
ically  analogous).     S.  uses  the  word  nowhere  else.     Cf.  Flono's 

World  of  Wordes,  1598:  "  Metafisico,  one  that  professeth  things 
supernaturall."  On  seem,  cf.  i.  2.  4?  above  ;  also  A.  W.  iii.  6.  94  = 
"that  so  confidently  seems  to  undertake  this  business,"  etc.  Doth 
seem  to  have  is  nearly  equivalent  to  would  have. 

30.  Tidings.      Like   news,   used   by   S.   both   as  singular   and 

plural. 

31      Thou  'rtmad,  etc.     "The  lady's  self-control  breaks  down 

for  a  moment  at  hearing  that  Duncan  is  rushing  into  the  toils; 
and  is  only  by  a  powerful  effort  regained  in  the  next  words 

(Moberly). 

35     Had  the  speed  of  him.     Has  outstripped  him. 
37.    Tending.     Attendance;   or  tendance,  which  S.  uses  instead. 
Cf.   T.  of  A.  i.  i.  57,  Hen.   VIII.  iii.  2.  149,  Cymb.  v.  5.  53,  etc. 
Tending  occurs  as  a  noun  only  here. 


206  Notes  [Act  i 

38.  The  raven  himself  is  hoarse,  etc.  Cf.  James  Russell  Lowell's 
remarks  on  the  passage  (Among  My  Books,  p.  186)  :  — 

"  Here  Shakespeare,  with  his  wonted  tact,  makes  use  of  a  vulgai 
superstition,  of  a  type  in  which  mortal  presentiment  is  already  em- 
bodied, to  make  a  common  ground  on  which  the  hearer  and  Lady 
Macbeth  may  meet.  After  this  prelude  we  are  prepared  to  be  pos- 
sessed by  her  emotion  more  fully,  to  feel  in  her  ears  the  dull  tramp 
of  the  blood  that  seems  to  make  the  raven's  croak  yet  hoarser  than 
it  is,  and  to  betray  the  stealthy  advance  of  the  mind  to  its  fell  pur- 
pose. For  Lady  Macbeth  hears  not  so  much  the  voice  of  the  bode- 
ful bird  as  of  her  own  premeditated  murder,  and  we  are  thus  made 
her  shuddering  accomplices  before  the  fact.  Every  image  receives 
the  colour  of  the  mind,  every  word  throbs  with  the  pulse  of  one 
controlling  passion.  The  epithet  fatal  makes  us  feel  the  implacable 
resolve  of  the  speaker,  and  shows  us  that  she  is  tampering  with  her 
conscience  by  putting  off  the  crime  upon  the  prophecy  of  the  Weird 
Sisters  to  which  she  alludes.  In  the  word  battlements,  too,  not  only 
is  the  fancy  led  up  to  the  perch  of  the  raven,  but  a  hostile  image 
takes  the  place  of  a  hospitable  one  ;  for  men  commonly  speak  of 
receiving  a  guest  under  their  roof  or  within  their  doors.  When 
Duncan  and  Banquo  arrive  at  the  castle,  their  fancies,  free  from  all 
suggestion  of  evil,  call  up  only  gracious  and  amiable  images.  The 
raven  was  but  the  fantastical  creation  of  Lady  Macbeth's  over- 
wrought brain. 

'  This  guest  of  summer, 
The  temple-haunting  martlet,  doth  approve 
By  his  lovd  mansionry  that  the  heaven's  breath 
Smells  ivooingly  here ;  no  jutty,  frieze, 
Buttress,  or  coign  of  vantage,  but  this  bird 
Hath  made  his  pendent  bed  and  procreant  cradle." 

"  The  contrast  here  cannot  but  be  as  intentional  as  it  is  marked. 
Every  image  is  one  of  welcome,  security,  and  confidence.  The  sum- 
mer, one  may  well  fancy,  would  be  a  very  different  hostess  from  hei 
whom  we  have  just  seen  expecting  them.  And  why  temple-haunting, 


Scene  V]  Notes  207 

unless  because  it  suggests  sanctuary?  O  immaginativa,  eke  si  ne 
rubi  delle  cose  di  fuor,  [O  imagination,  who  takest  away  outward 
things],  how  infinitely  more  precious  are  the  inward  ones  thou 
givest  in  return  !  If  all  this  be  accident,  it  is  at  least  one  of  those 
accidents  of  which  only  this  man  was  ever  capable." 
39.  Entrance.  A  trisyllable  here. 

41.  Mortal.     Deadly;  as  very  often  in  S.  and  other  writers.     On 
tend,  see  on  37  above. 

42.  Top-full.     Used  again  in  K.John,  iii.  4.  180. 

44.  Access.  Accented  as  here  by  S.  except  in  Ham.  ii.  I.  no. 
Remorse  =  relenting,  pity;  as  in  V.  and  A.  257:  "'Pity,'  she 
cries,  'some  favour,  some  remorse!'"  See  also  Temp.  v.  I.  76, 
M.  ofV.  iv.  I.  20,  K.  John,  ii.  I.  478,  etc.  So  S.  uses  remorseful 
=  pitiful  (T.  G.  of  V.  iv.  3.  13,  A.  W.  v.  3.  58,  etc.)  and  remorse- 
less =  pitiless  (J?.  of  L.  562,  Ham.  ii.  2.  609,  etc.).  This  last  word 
is  still  used  in  the  same  sense. 

46.  Keep  peace  between,  etc.  Come  between  the  purpose  and 
its  accomplishment;  "as  one  who  interferes  between  a  violent 
man  and  the  object  of  his  wrath  keeps  peace." 

48.  Take  my  milk  for  gall.     That  is,  turn  it  to  gall. 

49.  Sightless  substances.     Invisible  forms.     See  on  careless,  i.  4. 
II,  and  cf.  i.  7.  23  below. 

51.  Pall.  Wrap  (Latin  pallire,  from  pallium}.  Used  by  S. 
only  here,  and  perhaps  by  no  other  writer  as  a  verb.  Of  course, 
pall—  become  vapid  (Ham.  v.  2.  9,  A.  and  C.  ii.  7.  88)  is  an 
entirely  different  word. 

53.  Blanket.  This  word  has  sorely  troubled  the  critics.  Cole- 
ridge suggested  "blank  height,"  but  omitted  it  in  the  2d  ed.  of  his 
Table  Talk.  Blackness  and  blankest  are  other  attempts  at  emen- 
dation where  none  is  needed.  Malone  remarks:  "Blanket  was 
perhaps  suggested  by  the  coarse  woollen  curtain  of  S.'s  own  theatre, 
through  which,  probably,  while  the  house  was  but  yet  half-lighted, 
he  had  himself  often  peeped."  Whiter  (quoted  by  Furness)  says  : 
"  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  all  the  images  in  this  pas- 


208  Notes  [Act  I 

sage  are  borrowed  from  the  stage.  The  peculiar  and  appropriate 
dress  of  Tragedy  is  a  pall  *  and  a  knife.  When  tragedies  were 
represented,  the  stage  was  hung  with  black.  ...  In  R.  of  I.. 
(764-770)  there  is  a  wonderful  coincidence  with  this  passage,  in 
which  we  have  not  only  '  Black  stage  for  tragedies  and  murders 
fell,'  but  also  '  comfort-killing  Night,  image  of  hell,'  corresponding 
with  thick  Night  and  the  dunnest  smoke  of  hell.  Again,  in  line 
788,  we  have  'Through  Night's  black  bosom  should  not  peep 
again.' "  But,  whatever  may  have  suggested  it,  blanket,  though 
homely,  is  Shakespearian. 

55.  Hereafter.  Mrs.  Jameson  remarks :  "  This  is  surely  the  very 
rapture  of  ambition !  and  those  who  have  heard  Mrs.  Siddons  pro- 
nounce the  word  hereafter  cannot  forget  the  look,  the  tone,  which 
seemed  to  give  her  auditors  a  glimpse  of  the  awful  future,  which 
she,  in  her  prophetic  fury,  beholds  upon  the  instant." 

57.  Ignorant.  "Unknowing;  I  feel  by  anticipation  those  future 
honours,  of  which,  according  to  the  process  of  nature,  the  pres- 
ent time  would  be  ignorant"  (Johnson).  Feel  is  metrically  a 
dissyllable. 

63.    To  beguile  the  time.     That  is,  to  deceive  the  world. 

65.   Look  like  the  innocent  flower,  etc.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  iii.  2.  19:  — 

"And  when  they  from  thy  bosom  pluck  a  flower, 
Guard  it,  I  pray  thee,  with  a  lurking  adder ;  " 

and  2  Hen.  VI.  iii.  i.  228  :  "The  snake  roll'd  in  a  flowering  bank." 
72.    To  alter  favour,  etc.     To  bear  an  altered  face  marks  fear  in 
you  and  creates  it  in  others.     On  favour  =  face,  cf.  /.  C.  i.  2.  91  : 
"  Your  outward  favour,"  etc.     See  also  Proverbs,  xxxi.  30. 

SCENE  VI.  —  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  remarks  :  "  This  short  dia- 
logue between  Duncan  and  Banquo  has  always  appeared  to  me  a 

1  Cf.  Milton,  //  Pens.  97  :  — 

"  Sometime  let  gorgeous  Tragedy 
In  sceptred  pall  come  sweeping  by."  —  (Ed.) 


Scene  VI]  Notes  209 

striking  instance  of  what  in  painting  is  termed  repose.  Their  con- 
versation very  naturally  turns  upon  the  beauty  of  the  situation,  and 
the  pleasantness  of  the  air;  and  Banquo,  observing  the  martlets' 
nests  in  every  recess  of  the  cornice,  remarks  that  where  those  birds 
most  breed  and  haunt  the  air  is  delicate.  The  subject  of  this  quiet 
and  easy  conversation  gives  that  repose  so  necessary  to  the  mind 
after  the  tumultuous  bustle  of  the  preceding  scenes,  and  perfectly 
contrasts  the  scene  of  horror  that  immediately  succeeds." 

3.  Gentle  senses.     That  is,  which  it  makes  gentle,  or  soothes;  an 
instance  of  "  prolepsis,"  or  the  anticipation,  in  an  adjective,  of  the 
result  of  the  action.     There  is  a  striking  example  of  this  figure  in 
Keats's  Isabella  :  — 

"  So  the  two  brothers  and  their  murder'd  man 
Rode  past  fair  Florence ;  " 

the  murder'd  man  being  not  yet  despatched,  though  soon  to  be  so. 
Cf.  i.  3.  84  and  iii.  4.  76  below. 

4.  Martlet.     The    folios    have    "  Barlet."     The   emendation   is 
Rowe's,  and  is  adopted  by  all  the  editors.     It  is  supported  by  M.  of 
V.  ii.  9.  28  :  "  Like  the  martlet,  Builds  in  the  weather  on  the  out- 
ward wall."     Cf.  T.  of  A.  iii.  6.  31.     Approve  =  \rtov&;   as  often  in 
S.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  iii.  2.  79,  2  Hen.  IV,  i.   2.    1 80,  A.   W.  iii.   7. 
13,  etc. 

5.  Mansionry.     Theobald's  emendation  for  the  "  Mansonry  "  of 
the  folios.     Mansionry  is  found  nowhere  else,  but  it  is  generally 
adopted  by  the  editors  here. 

6.  Jutty.     The  folios  read  "  jutty  frieze  "  without  a  comma  be- 
tween, as  if  jutty  were  an  adjective.     It  is  not,  however,  found  as 
an  adjective,  though  it  occurs  both  as  a  substantive  and  as  a  verb. 
For  the  latter,  see  Hen.  V.  iii.  I.  13  :   "  O'erhang  and  jutty  his  con- 
founded base."     S.  uses  the  word  only  twice. 

7.  Coign  of  vantage.     Convenient  corner.     Cf.  Cor.  v.  4.  I.     As 
an  architectural  term  it  is  now  commonly  written  quoin. 

11-14.    The  love,  etc.     "Duncan  says  that  even  love  sometimes 
MACBETH  —  14 


210 


Notes  [Act  i 


occasions  him  trouble,  but  that  he  thanks  it  as  love,  notwithstand- 
ing; and  that  thus  he  teaches  Lady  Macbeth,  while  she  takes 
trouble  on  his  account,  to  '  bid  God  yield,'  or  reward,  him  for  giving 
that  trouble."  S.  uses  sometime  and  sometimes  indifferently,  both  in 
this  sense  and  as  an  adjective  =  former.  God  'te/d  is  a  corruption 
of  "  God  yield."  "  God  ild  "  and  "  God  dild  "  are  common  forms 
of  it  in  the  old  writers.  Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  iii.  3.  76,  v.  4.  56,  A.  and  C. 
iv.  2.  33,  Ham.  iv.  5.  41,  etc. 

1 6.  Single  business.  That  is,  small  business.  Cf.  i.  3.  140 
above.  To  contend  against  =  to  vie  with. 

19.  To  them.    Cf.  iii.  I.  51  below. 

20.  Hermits.     We  as  hermits,  or  beadsmen,  will  pray  for  you. 

21.  Cours'd.     Chased.     Cf.  Lear,  iii.  4.  58:  "to  course  his  own 
shadow,"  etc. 

22.  Purveyor.     An  officer  sent  forward  to  provide  food  for  the 
king  and  his  retinue,  as  the  harbinger  to  obtain  lodging.     The 
word,  used  nowhere  else  by  S.,  is  accented  on  the  first  syllable. 

23.  Holp.     An  old  past  tense  and  participle  of  help  ;  used  by  S. 
much  oftener  than  helped.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  v.  5.  62,  Temp.  i.  2.  63,  etc. 

26.   In  compt.    In  account,  accountable.     Cf.  A.  W.\.  3.  57,  etc. 
31.    By  your  leave.     Duncan  gives  his  hand  to  Lady  Macbeth, 
and  leads  her  into  the  castle. 

SCENE  VII.  —  The  sewer  in  the  stage-direction  was  the  servant 
who  put  the  dishes  on  the  table,  and  tasted  of  them  before  serving 
them.  Cf.  Rick.  II.  v.  5.  99. 

i,  2.  The  punctuation  given  is  essentially  that  of  the  folios,  and 
is  followed  by  most  of  the  editors.  A  few  point  it  thus :  — 

"  If  it  were  done  when  't  is  done,  then  't  were  well. 
It  were  done  quickly  if  the  assassination 
Could  trammel,"  etc. 

If  we  retain  the  old  pointing — which  seems  best,  on  the  whole  — 
the  meaning  is:  "If  the  act  were  really  over  when  done,  then  the 
sooner  we  accomplish  it  the  better." 


Scene  VII]  Notes  211 

3.  Trammel  up.     Entangle  as  in  a  net.     A  trammel  was  a  kind 
of  net.     Cf.  Quarles,  Emblems  :  "  Nay,  Cupid,  pitch  thy  trammel 
where  thou  please."     In  Spenser  it  is  a  net  for  the  hair;   as  in 
F.  Q.u.  2.  15:  — 

"  Her  golden  lockes  she  roundly  did  uptye 
In  breaded  tramels"  (that  is,  braided  nets). 

4.  His  surcease.      Its  conclusion,  or  cessation.     His  was  often 
used  for  its,  which  was  just  coming  into  use  in  the  time  of  S.    Sur- 
cease has  no  etymological  connection  with  cease,  being  derived  from 
the  Fr.  surseoir  (Lat.  supersedere),      S.  uses  it  as  a  noun  only 
here;   but  as  a  verb  in  R.  of  L.  1766,  Cor.  iii.  2.  121,  and  R,  and J. 
iv.  I.  97.     Success  is  used  in  its  ordinary  sense;  as  in  i.  3.  90,  132, 
and  i.  5.  2  above.     It  sometimes  means  "sequel,  what  follows"; 
as  in  T.  and  C.  ii.  2.  117:  "fear  of  bad  success,"  etc. 

6.  But  here.     Only  here,  only  in  this  life. 

Shoal.  The  folios  have  "  Schoole,"  which  some  critics  would 
retain,  but  shoal  is  generally  adopted.  It  means  "  this  shallow  of 
human  life,  as  opposed  to  the  great  abyss  of  eternity." 

7.  Jump.     For  jump  —  risk,  hazard,  cf.   Cor.  iii.  I.   154:   "To 
jump   a   body  with  a  dangerous  physic;"  and   Cymb.  v.  4.   188: 
"  jump  the  after  inquiry  on  your  own  peril." 

8.  That.     So  that ;  as  in  line  25  below.     See  on  i.  3.  57  above. 
II.    Commends.     Offers,    commits.      Cf.  Rich.   II.    iii.   3.   116: 

"His  glittering  arms  he  will  commend  to  rust;"  A.  and  C.  iv.  8. 
23 :  "  Commend  unto  his  lips  thy  favouring  hand,"  etc.  See  also 
iii.  i.  38  below. 

17.   Faculties.     Official  powers  or  prerogatives.     Cf.  Hen.  VIII. 

i.  2.  73 :  — 

"  If  I  am 

Traduced  by  ignorant  tongues,  which  neither  know 
My  faculties  nor  person." 

20.  Taking-off.  Cf.  Lear,  v.  I.  65:  "His  speedy  taking  off." 
See  also  iii.  i.  104  below. 


212 


Notes  [Act  i 


21.  A  naked  new-born  babe.     "  Either  like  a  mortal  babe  terrible 
in  helplessness ;  or  like  heaven's  child-angels,  mighty  in  love  and 
compassion"  (Moberly). 

22.  Cherubin.     Cf.   Temp.  i.  2,  152:   "a  cherubin,"  etc.     The 
form  cherubim  is  not  used  by  S.     He  has  the  plural  cherubins  in 
Sonn.  114.  6. 

23.  Sightless.     See  on  i.  5.  49  above. 

25.  7%#/  (ears,  etc.  See  on  8  above.  Cf.  T.  and  C.  iv.  4.  55 : 
"  Where  are  my  tears?  Rain,  to  lay  this  wind." 

I  have  no  spur,  etc.  Malone  says :  "  There  are  two  distinct 
metaphors.  I  have  no  spur  to  prick  the  sides  of  my  intent :  I  have 
nothing  to  stimulate  me  to  the  execution  of  my  purpose,  but  am- 
bition, which  is  apt  to  overreach  itself;  this  he  expresses  by  the 
second  image,  of  a  person  meaning  to  vault  into  his  saddle,  who, 
by  taking  too  great  a  leap,  will  fall  on  the  other  side." 

28.  On  the  other.  That  is,  the  other  side;  but  there  is  no 
necessity  for  supplying  "  side,"  as  some  have  done. 

32.  Bought.  Acquired,  gained;  a  figurative  use  of  the  word 
natural  enough,  and  common  in  S.  Cf.  L.  L.  L.  i.  I.  5  :  — 

"  The  endeavour  of  this  present  breath  may  buy 
That  honour,"  etc. 

Cf.  also  the  use  of  purchase  in  Rich.  II.  i.  3.  282  and  M.  of  V. 
ii.  9.  43. 

35.  Was  the  hope  drunk,  etc.  A  mixture  of  metaphors  ;  but 
the  sense  is  clear :  "  Were  you  drunk  when  you  formed  your  bold 
plan,  and  are  you  now  just  awake  from  the  debauch,  to  be  crest- 
fallen, shrinking,  mean-spirited?"  The  dressed  was  apparently 
suggested  by  the  figure  just  used  by  Macbeth.  For  a  similar  figure, 
without  the  "  mixture,"  see  K.John,  iv.  2.  116. 

41.  Wouldst  thou  have,  etc.  Do  you  desire  the  crown,  yet 
resolve  to  live  a  coward  because  your  daring  will  not  second  your 
desire  ? 

45.    The  poor  cat,  etc.     Johnson  quotes  the  Low  Latin  form  of 


Scene  VII]  Notes 


the  proverb  :  "  Catus  amat  pisces,  sed  non  vult  tingere  plantas." 
In  French  it  is  "  Le  chat  aime  le  poisson,  mais  il  n'aime  pas  a 
mouiller  ses  pattes."  Cf.  Heywood's  Proverbs,  1566:  "The  cate 
would  eate  fishe,  and  would  not  wet  her  feete." 

47.  Who  dares  do  more  is  none.     Cf.  At.  for  M.  ii.  4.  134:  — 

"  Be  that  you:  are, 
That  is,  a  woman  ;  if  you  be  more,  you're  none." 

Hunter  would  retain  the  folio  reading  ("no  more"),  and  give  the 
line  to  Lady  Macbeth. 

What  beast,  etc.  If  this  enterprise  be  not  the  device  of  a  man, 
what  beast  induced  you  to  propose  it? 

48.  Break.      Here  followed  by  to,  as  it  would  be  now,  but  often 
in  S.  by  with;  as  inf.  C.  ii.  i.  150,  Hen.  VIII.  v.  I.  47,  etc. 

52.  Adhere.    Cohere,  be  suitable.    Cf.  M.  W.  ii.  I.  62  and  T.  N. 
iii.  4.  86. 

53.  That  their  fitness.     Cf.  ii.  2.  61  and  iii.  6.  48  below. 

59.  We  fail.  Mrs.  Jameson  says:  "  In  her  impersonation  of  the 
part  of  Lady  Macbeth,  Mrs.  Siddons  adopted  successively  three 
different  intonations  in  giving  the  words  we  fail.  At  first  a  quick 
contemptuous  interrogation  —  '  we  fail?  '  Afterwards  with  the  note 
of  admiration  —  'we  fail!'  and  an  accent  of  indignant  astonish- 
ment, laying  the  principal  emphasis  on  the  word  we  —  we  fail! 
Lastly,  she  fixed  on  what  I  am  convinced  is  the  true  reading  — 
'we  fail.'  with  the  simple  period,  modulating  her  voice  to  a  deep, 
low,  resolute  tone,  which  settled  the  issue  at  once  —  as  though  she 
had  said,  '  if  we  fail,  why  then  we  fail,  and  all  is  over.'  This  is  con- 
sistent with  the  dark  fatalism  of  the  character  and  the  sense  of  the 
line  following,  and  the  effect  was  sublime,  almost  awful." 

Compare  what  Fletcher  (Studies  of  Shakespeare}  says  :  "  Her  quiet 
reply,  'We  fail,'  is  every  way  most  characteristic  of  the  speaker  — 
expressing  that  moral  firmness  in  herself  which  makes  her  quite 
prepared  to  endure  the  consequences  of  failure  —  and,  at  the  same 
time,  conveying  the  most  decisive  rebuke  of  such  moral  cowardice 


2I4 


Notes  [Act  i 


in  her  husband  as  can  make  him  recede  from  a  purpose  merely  on 
account  of  the  possibility  of  defeat  —  a  possibility  which,  up  to  the 
very  completion  of  their  design,  seems  never  absent  from  her  own 
mind,  though  she  finds  it  necessary  to  banish  it  from  that  of  her 
husband." 

60.  But  screw  your  courage,  etc.  A  metaphor  from  screwing  up 
the  chords  of  stringed  instruments.  Cf.  Cor.  i.  8.  n  :  "  Wrench  up 
thy  power  to  the  highest;  "  and  T.  N.  v.  i.  125 :  — 

"And  that  I  partly  know  the  instrument 
That  screws  me  from  my  true  place  in  your  favour." 

64.  Wassail.  Originally,  the  "toast,"  or  form  of  words  (=be 
well,  a  health  to  you!)  in  which  healths  were  pledged  in  drinking; 
thence  a  drinking-bout  or  carousal;  and  also  applied  to  the  spiced 
ale  or  wine  used  on  such  occasions.  Cf.  L.  L.  L.  v.  2.  318:  "At 
wakes  and  wassails;  "  Ham.  i.  4.  9:  "keeps  wassail,"  etc.  Con- 
vince =  overcome  (Lat.  convincere)',  as  in  iv.  3.  142  below.  See 
also  Oth.  iv.  i.  28. 

66.  Shall  be  a  fume.     Cf.  Temp.  v.  I.  67:  — 

"  The  ignorant  fumes  that  mantle 
Their  clearer  reason." 

Receipt.  Receptacle;  the  only  instance  of  this  meaning  in  S.  Cf. 
Matthe-LV,  ix.  9 :  "  the  receipt  of  custom." 

67.  Limbeck.     Alembic;  as  in  So  tin.  119.2.     Cf.   Milton,  P.  L. 
iii.  605 :   "  Drain'd  through  a  limbec." 

68.  A  death.     A  kind  of  death,  a  sleep  like  death.     Cf.  IV.  T. 
iv.  2.  3. 

71.  Spongy.     Drunken.     In  M.  of  V.  i.  2.  108,  the  guzzling  Ger- 
man is  compared  to  a  sponge. 

72.  Quell.     Murder.     Quell  in  Old  English  =  kill,  which  is  origi- 
nally the  same  word.     Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.  ii.  7.  40 :  — 

"and  well  could  weld  [wield] 
That  cursed  weapon,  when  his  cruell  foes  he  queld." 


Scene  VII]  Notes  215 

Man-queller  (=  manslayer,  murderer)  occurs  in  2  Hen.  IV.  ii. 
I.  58.  The  redoubtable  "Jack"  was  formerly  called  "the  giant  - 
queller,"  instead  of  "  giant-killer." 

73.  Mettle.     In  the  early  eds.  no  distinction  is  made   between 
metal  and  mettle. 

74.  Received.     Accepted  as  true,  believed.     Cf.  M.  for  M.  i.  3. 

16:  — 

"  For  so  I  have  strew'd  it  in  the  common  ear, 
And  so  it  is  receiv'd  ;  " 

T.  G.  of  V.  v.  4.  78 :  "  And  once  again  I  do  receive  thee  honest," 
etc. 

77.    Other.     Otherwise.     Cf.  v.  4.  8  below. 

79.  Bend  up.     Strain,  like  a  bow.     Cf.  Hen.  V.  Hi.  I.  16:  — 

"  Hold  hard  the  breath,  and  bend  up  every  spirit 
To  his  full  height." 

80.  Each  corporal  agent.     All  my  bodily  powers. 

81.  Mock  Hie  time.     See  on  i.  5.  63  above. 


ACT   II 

SCENE  I. — The  old  stage-direction  says  nothing  about  "a  ser- 
vant with  a  torch,"  as  in  many  modern  eds.;  though  "a  Torch" 
sometimes  means  a  torch-bearer,  as  "  a  Trumpet  "  means  a  trtimpeter. 

4.  Husbandry.  Thrift,  economy.  Cf.  Ham.  i.  3.  77  :  "  borrow- 
ing dulls  the  edge  of  husbandry."  S.  several  times  uses  heaven  as 
plural  (=  heavenly  beings).  Cf.  Rich.  II.  i.  2.  7:  — 

"  Put  we  our  quarrel  to  the  will  of  heaven  : 
Who,  when  they  see  the  hours  ripe  on  earth, 
Will  rain  hot  vengeance  on  offenders'  heads ;  " 

For  the  metaphor,  cf.  M.  of  V.  v.  i.  220:  "these  blessed  candles 
of  the  night;  "  R.  and J.  iii.  5.  9  :   "  Night's  candles  are  burnt  out;  " 
and  Sonn.  21.  12 :  "  those  gold  candles  fix'd  in  heaven's  air." 
216 


Scene  I]  Notes  21 J 

5.  Take  thee  that  too.     Probably  his  shield  or  targe. 

6.  Heavy.     Drowsy,  sleepy;    as  often.     Cf.  R.  of  L.   121,  163,  • 
1574,  Temp,  \.  z.  189,  194,  198,  M.  N.  D.  v.  I.  380,  etc. 

9.  Give  me  my  sword.  He  does  not  recognize  Macbeth  at  first, 
and  does  not  know  whether  the  late-comer  is  friend  or  foe. 

14.  Offices.     The  servants'  quarters.     Cf.  Rich.  //.  i.  2.  69,  etc. 

15.  This  diamond,  etc.     Grant  White  says  that  this  "shows  the 
result  of  hasty  writing,"  because  Banquo   "  had  been  charged  to 
deliver  a  diamond  to  Lady  Macbeth  "  and  had  not  done  it;   but 
the  preceding  dialogue  shows  that  he  had  just  received  it,  and  that 
he  supposed  Macbeth  and  his  wife  had  retired  for  the  night. 

1 6.  Shut  up.     The  expression  has  been  much  discussed.     It  is 
commonly  explained  as  =  "  concluded  ";   but  I  am  inclined  to  think 
it  means  that  the  king  is  now  shut  up  in  his  chamber,  having  retired 
with  measureless  content,  or  satisfaction. 

1 8.  Our  -Mill,  etc.  Our  will  had  to  submit  to  our  deficient  means 
instead  of  being  free  to  carry  out  our  wishes. 

22.  When,  etc.  When  we  can  ask  you  to  put  an  hour  at  our 
service. 

24.  Kindest.     Cf.  "stern'st"  (ii.  2.  4),  "near'st"   (iii.  I.  117), 
and  "secret'st"  (iii.  4.  126)  below;  all  harsh  contractions. 

25.  If  you,  etc.     If  you  adhere  to  my  party  whenever  it  is  estab- 
lished. 

In  Davenant's  version  of  Macbeth,  this  passage  reads :  — 

"  If  when  the  Prophesie  begins  to  look  like  truth 
You  will  adhere  to  me,  it  shall  make  honour  for  you." 

28.    Franchis'd.     Free,  unstained. 

31.  My  drink.  This  night-cup  or  posset  was  a  common  indul- 
gence of  the  time.  Cf.  ii.  2.6:  "I  have  drugg'd  their  possets." 

33.  Is  (his  a  dagger,  etc.  "  A  delusion  appearing  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  Highland  second  sight ;  more  substantial  than  the  '  im- 
age of  murder'  which  shakes  his  soul  in  i.  4,  but  not  accepted 


2i 8  Notes  [Act  ii 

and  believed  by  him  like  the  apparition  of  Banquo  afterwards " 
(Moberly). 

34.  Toward.  S.  used  toward  and  towards  (see  line  55  below) 
interchangeably,  or  as  either  suited  his  ear;  at  least,  both  are 
found  in  the  early  eds.  Cf.  i.  3.  152,  i.  4.  27,  i.  6.  30,  v.  4.  21,  etc. 

36.  Sensible.  Perceptible,  tangible.  Cf.  M.  of  V.  ii.  9.  89: 
"sensible  regreets,"  etc. 

44,  45.  Mine  eyes,  etc.  Either  my  eyes  are  deceived  while  the 
other  senses  are  not,  or  they  are  more  trustworthy  than  the  latter. 

46.  Dudgeon.  This  undoubtedly  means  here  the  handle  of  a 
dagger,  but  its  derivation  is  doubtful.  It  was  some  kind  of  wood 
used  by  turners;  boxwood,  according  to  several  old  authorities. 
Gerard,  in  his  Herball,  under  the  article  Box-tree,  says :  "  The 
root  is  likewise  yellow,  and  harder  than  the  timber,  but  of  greater 
beauty,  and  more  fit  for  dagger-hafts,  boxes,  and  such  like  uses. 
.  .  .  Turners  and  cutlers,  if  I  mistake  not  the  matter,  doe  call  this 
wood  dudgeon,  wherewith  they  make  dtidgeon-hafted  daggers." 

Gouts.  Drops  (Fr.  gotttte),  S.  uses  the  word  (in  this  sense) 
only  here. 

48.  Informs.     Creates  forms;    or,  perhaps,  takes   form,  shapes 
itself. 

49.  The  one-half  world.     Cf.  I  Hen.  IV.  iv.  I.  136:  "this  one 
half  year." 

50.  Abuse.     Deceive ;    as  often.     Cf.   Temp.  v.   1 .  112:   "  some 
enchanted  trifle  to  abuse  me;  "  Much  Ado,  v.  2.  100  :  "  the  prince 
and  Claudio  mightily  abused,"  etc.     In  iii.  4.   142,  "  self-abuse " 
means  self-deception. 

52.  Hecate's.     A  dissyllable.     Cf.   Lear,\.  I.  112  :  "The  mys- 
teries of  Hecate  and  of  night;  "  Ham.  iii.  2.  269  :  "With  Hecate's 
ban  thrice  blasted,  thrice  infected."     See  also  iii.  2.  41  and  iii.  5.  i 
below. 

53.  Alaruni'd.     The  same  word    as   alarmed.     The    derivation 
(Ital.  air  anne}   may  be  illustrated    by  Holland's  Livy,  p.  331  : 
"This  sayd,  he  runs  downe  with  as  great  a  noyse  and  showting  as 


Scene  II]  Notes  219 

he  could,  crying,  at  arme,  help  help  citizens,  the  castle  is  taken  by 
the  enemie,  come  away  to  defense." 

54.  Whose  howl 's  his  watch.     Who  marks  the  nightwatches  by 
howling. 

55.  Strides.     The  folios  have  "  sides,"  which  a  few  editors  retain, 
making  it  a   verb  =  matches.     Cf.   Rich.   II.   i.    3.    268  :    "  Every 
tedious  stride  I  make;"  and    Harrington's   Ariosto,   1591  :    "He 
takes  a  long  and  leisurable  stride."     The  word  as  then  used  was  not 
inconsistent  with  "  stealthy  pace." 

59.  And  take,  etc.     That  is,  break  the  silence  that  added  such  a 
horror  to  the  night  as  suited  well  with  the  deed  he  was  about  to 
perform. 

60.  Whiles.     See  on  i.  5.  5  above. 

62.  The  bell  invites  me.     See  32  above. 

63.  Knell.     Alluding  to  the  "  passing  bell "  which  was  formerly 
tolled  when  a  person  was  dying. 

SCENE  II. — The  folio  has  "Scena  Secunda"  here,  but  some 
editors  make  no  change  of  scene.  I  adhere  to  the  old  division  of 
scenes  solely  to  avoid  confusion  in  referring  to  this  part  of  the 
play. 

i.  That  which  hath  made  them  drunk,  etc.  Some  critics  have 
supposed  that  the  Lady  had  taken  wine  to  support  her  courage. 
But  in  saying  "That  which  hath  made  them  drunk,"  she  implies 
that  she  herself  was  not  drunk.  Is  anything  more  meant  than  that 
she  had  taken  her  regular  night-cup  (see  on  ii.  I.  31  above),  and 
that  she  felt  the  slightly  stimulating  effect  of  the  "  posset  "  ?  The 
grooms  would  not  have  been  "  drunk,"  or  stupefied,  if  their  possets 
had  not  been  drugged. 

3.    The  fatal  bellman,  etc.     Cf.    Webster's   Duchess  of  Malfi, 

iv.  2 :  — 

"  I  am  the  common  bellman, 

That  usually  is  sent  to  condemn'd  persons 
The  night  before  they  suffer." 


220 


Notes  [Act  ii 


See  also  R.  of  L.  165  :  "No  noise  but  owls'  and  wolves'  death- 
boding  cries;  "  Rich.  III.  iv.  4.  509  :  "  Out  on  you,  owls !  nothing 
but  songs  of  death,"  etc. 

5.  Grooms.     Originally,  servants  of  any  kind. 

6.  Possets.     See  on  ii.  I.  31  above.     Randle  Holmes  {Academy 
of  Armoiirie,  1688)  says :  "  Posset  is  hot  milk  poured  on  ale  or  sack, 
having  sugar,   grated   bisket,   and   eggs,  with   other    ingredients, 
boiled  in  it,  which  goes  all  to  a  curd."     This  explains  why  the 
posset  is  often  spoken  of  as  "eaten."     Cf.  M.  IV.  v.  5.  180  :  "Thou 
shall  eat  a  posset  to-night  at  my  house."     S.  uses  posset  as  a  verb 
in  Ham.  \.  5.  68  :  — 

"  And  with  a  sudden  vigour  it  doth  posset 
And  curd,  like  eager  droppings  into  milk, 
The  thin  and  wholesome  blood." 

7.  That.     So  that.     See  on  i.  3.  57  above,  and  cf.  line  23  below. 

8.  Who  's  there?  what,  ho  !     Macbeth  fancies  that  he  hears  some 
noise  (see  line  14),  and  in  his  nervous  excitement  he  rushes  to  the 
balcony,  and  calls  beneath,  "Who  's  there  ?"     In  his  agony,  how- 
ever, he  waits  for  no  answer,  but  hurries  back  into  the  chamber  to 
execute  the  murder. 

ii.  Confounds.  Ruins,  destroys;  the  most  common  meaning  of 
the  word  in  S.  Cf.  iv.  I.  54  and  iv.  3. 99  below.  See  also  M.  of  V. 
iii.  2.  78,  Rich.  If.  iii.  4.  60,  etc. 

20.    Sorry.     Sad.     Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.  v.  I,  14:  — 

"To  whom  as  they  approched,  they  espide 
A  sorie  sight  as  ever  scene  with  eye, 
An  headlesse  Ladie  lying  him  beside 
In  her  own  blood  all  wallow'd  woefully." 

24.  Addressed  them.  "Made  themselves  ready"  (Schmidt).  Cf. 
M.  W.  iii.  5.  135,  M.  of  V.  ii.  9.  19,  etc. 

27.   As  they  had  seen  me,  etc.     See  on  i.  4.  n  above. 
Hangman.     Executioner.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  iv.  i.  125:  "the  hang- 


Scene  II]  Notes  221 

man's  axe."     It  is  applied  jocosely  to  Cupid  in  Much  Ado,  iii.  2.  1 1 : 
"  the  little  hangman  dare  not  shoot  at  him." 

28.  Listening.  Used  transitively,  as  in  Much  Ado,  iii.  I.  I2,/.  C. 
iv.  I.  41,  and  Rich.  II.  ii.  I.  9. 

33.  Thought.     That  is,  thought  of. 

34.  So.     If  we  so  think  of  them. 

35-40.  We  follow  Johnson  and  most  of  the  recent  editors  in 
limiting  what  the  "  voice  "  says  to  "  Sleep  no  more  !  Macbeth  does 
murther  sleep!"  The  earlier  editors  generally,  except  Johnson, 
make  the  "voice"  continue  to  "feast";  but  all  from  "the  innocent 
sleep  "  is  evidently  his  own  conscience-stricken  reflections  on  the 
imaginary  utterances. 

37.  Sleave.  Coarse,  soft,  unwrought  silk.  Cf.  Florio,  Ital.  Diet., 
1598 :  "  Sfilazza.  Any  kind  of  ravelled  stuffe,  or  sleave  silk;  "  also 
"  Capitone,  a  kind  of  coarse  silk,  called  sleave  silke."  Cf.  T.  and  C. 
v.  i.  35:  "Thou  idle  immaterial  skein  of  sleave-silk."  See  also 
Drayton,  Quest  of  Cynthia  :  — 

"  The  bank,  with  daffidillies  dight, 
With  grass,  like  sleave,  was  matted." 

40.  Nourisher.  Cf.  Chaucer,  C.  T.  10661:  "The  norice  of 
digestion,  the  sleep."  Rushton  (quoted  by  Furness)  cites  Ovid, 
Met.  xi.  623  :  — 

"  Somne,  quies  rerum,  placidissime  Somne  deorum, 
Pax  animi,  quern  cura  fugit,  qui  corda  diurnis 
Fessa  ministeriis  mulces,  reparasque  labori." 

Cf.  Golding's  quaint  translation  (1587)  :  — 

"  O  sleepe,  quoth  she,  the  rest  of  things,  O  gentlest  of  the  goddes 
Sweet  sleepe,  the  peace  of  mind,  with  whom  crookt  care  is  aye  at  odds ; 
Which  cherishest  men's  weary  limbs  appall'd  with  toyling^sore, 
And  makest  them  as  fresh  to  worke,  and  lustie  as  before." 
46.    Brainsickly.     Madly;   the  only  instance  of  the  adverb  in  S. 

The  adjective  brainsick  occurs  six  times.     Cm  get  some  water,  etc., 

cf.  v.  I.  66. 


222  Notes  [Act  II 

55.  A  painted  devil.       Cf.    Webster,    White   Devil:    "Terrify 
babes,  my  lord,  with  painted  devils." 

56.  /  'II gild,  etc.    Though  there  is  no  real  resemblance  between 
the  colour  of  blood  and  that  of  gold,  to  gild  with  blood  was  an  ex- 
pression not  uncommon  in  the  i6th  century.     Gold  was  popularly 
and  very  generally  styled  red,  as  it  still  is  in  poetry  sometimes.     So 
we  have  "golden  blood,"  ii.  3.  97  below.     Cf.  K.  John,  ii.  i.  316: 
"  all  gilt  with  Frenchmen's  blood."     For  the  quibble  on  gilt  and 
guilt,  cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  5. 129  and  Hen.  V.  ii.  chorus,  26.     See  also 
Middleton,  A  Mad  World :  "Though  guilt  condemns,  't  is  gilt  must 
make  us  glad;"  Marlowe,  Hero  and  Leander  :  — 

"  That,  this  word  gilt  including  double  sense, 
The  double  guilt  of  his  incontinence 
Might  be  express'd,"  etc. 

57.  That  knocking.    Macduff  and  Lennox  are  knocking  at  the 
south  gate,  as  the  next  scene  shows. 

On  the  dramatic  purpose  of  this  knocking,  De  Quincey  remarks : 
"The  murderers,  and  the  murder,  must  be  insulated  —  cut  off  by 
an  immeasurable  gulf  from  the  ordinary  tide  and  succession  of  human 
affairs  —  locked  up  and  sequestered  in  some  deep  recess;,  we  must 
be  made  sensible  that  the  world  of  ordinary  life  is  suddenly  arrested 
—  laid  asleep  —  tranced  —  racked  into  a  dread  armistice;  time  must 
be  annihilated;  relation  to  things  without  abolished;  and  all  must 
pass  self-withdrawn  into  a  deep  syncope  and  suspension  of  earthly 
passion.  Hence  it  is  that  when  the  deed  is  done,  when  the  wort 
of  darkness  is  perfect,  then  the  world  of  darkness  passes  away  like 
a  pageantry  in  the  clouds:  the  knocking  at  the  gate  is  heard;  and 
it  makes  known  audibly  that  the  reaction  has  commenced;  the 
human  has  made  its  reflux  upon  the  fiendish;  the  pulses  of  life  are 
beginning  to  beat  again;  and  the  reestablishment  of  the  goings-on 
of  the  world  in  which  we  live  first  makes  us  profoundly  sensible  of 
the  awful  parenthesis  that  had  suspended  them." 

62.    The    multitudinous    feat.      As    admirably    descriptive    as 


Scene  III]  Notes  22J 

Homer's  wo\v<f>\olff(3oio  6a\dffffr)s.  One  can  almost  hear  in  it  the 
sound  of  the  sea  with  its  numberless  waves. 

Incarnadine.  Used  as  adjective  and  noun  before  the  time  of 
S.,  but  as  a  verb  first  by  him.  Carew  uses  the  verb  in  his  Obsequies 
to  the  Lady  Anne  Hay,  1639  ("  Incarnadine  Thy  rosy  cheek  "),  but 
he  probably  borrowed  it  from  S. 

63.  Making,  etc.  The  folio  has  "  Making  the  Greene  one,  Red," 
and  some  of  the  earlier  editors  follow  that  pointing;  but  of  course 
Macbeth  dwells  upon  the  conversion  of  the  tiniversal green  into  one 
pervading  red.  Cf.  Ham.  ii.  2.  479 :  "  Now  is  he  total  gules;  "  and 
Milton,  Comns,  133:  "And  makes  one  blot  of  all  the  air." 

65.  A  heart  so  white.  Cf.  Marlowe,  Lust^s  Dominion  (written 
before  1593):  "Your  cheeks  are  black,  let  not  your  soul  look 
white." 

68.  Your  constancy,  etc.  Your  firmness  has  forsaken  you.  Cf. 
A.  W.  ii.  I.  87,  /.  C.  ii.  I.  299,  etc. 

70.  Nightgown.  A  dressing-gown.  Cf.  v.  i.  6  below.  See  also 
Much  Ado,  Hi.  4.  18,  Oth.  iv.  3.  34,  and  stage-direction  in/.  C.  ii.  2. 
In  Macbeth's  time,  and  for  centuries  later,  it  was  customary  for  both 
sexes  to  sleep  without  any  other  covering  than  that  belonging  to 
the  bed. 

72.  Poorly.  Without  spirit,  dejectedly.  Cf.  Rich.  II,  Hi.  3. 128: 
"  To  look  so  poorly  and  to  speak  so  fair."  Cf.  poor  in  R.  of  L.  710. 

74.  Wake  Duncan  with  thy  knocking !  An  apostrophe  to  the 
person  knocking;  not  to  Duncan,  as  some  would  make  it. 

SCENE  III.  —  The  Porter's  part  in  this  scene  has  been  the  subject 
of  much  discussion.  Coleridge  says  of  it :  "  This  low  soliloquy  of 
the  Porter  and  his  few  speeches  afterwards  I  believe  to  have  been 
written  for  the  mob  by  some  other  hand,  perhaps  with  Shake- 
speare's consent;  and  that  finding  it  take,  he  with  the  remaining 
ink  of  a  pen  otherwise  employed  just  interpolated  the  words :  — 

"  '  I  '11  devil-porter  it  no  further :  I  had  thought  to  have  let  in  some  of 
all  professions,  that  go  the  primrose  way  to  the  everlasting  bonfire.' 


224 


Notes  [Act  ii 


Of  the  rest  not  one  syllable  has  the  ever-present  being  of  Shake- 
speare." 

Mr.  J.  W.  Hales,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  New  Shakspere 
Society,  May  22,  1874  (see  the  Transactions,  1874,  p.  255  fol.), 
takes  the  ground :  — 

"  (i.)  That  a  Porter's  speech  is  an  integral  part  of  the  play. 
(ii.)  That  it  is  necessary  as  a  relief  to  the  surrounding  horror, 
(iii.)  That  it  is  necessary  according  to  the  law  of  contrast  elsewhere 

obeyed. 

(iv.)  That  the  speech  we  have  is  dramatically  relevant. 
(v.)  That  its  style  and  language  are  Shakespearian." 

After  the  reading  of  this  paper  Mr.  Tom  Taylor  remarked :  "  The 
reasons  set  forth  by  Mr.  Hales  appear  to  me  so  consonant  with  what 
we  know  of  Shakespeare,  the  general  character  of  his  plays,  his  lan- 
guage, and  the  relation  of  serious  and  comic  in  his  treatment  of 
dramatic  subjects,  that  to  me  they  carry  absolute  conviction  that 
the  Porter's  speech  is  an  integral  part  of  the  play." 

Dr.  Furnivall  says  that  he  asked  Dr.  George  Macdonald  what  he 
thought  of  the  Porter's  speech,  and  the  reply  was :  "  Look  at  the 
grim  humour  of  it.  I  believe  it  's  genuine."  He  put  the  same  ques- 
tion to  the  poet  Browning,  who  answered  :  "  Certainly  the  speech  is 
full  of  humour;  and  as  certainly  the  humour  and  the  words  are 
Shakespeare's.  I  cannot  understand  Coleridge's  objection  to  it. 
As  to  Lamb,  I  've  no  doubt  that  he  held  the  speech  genuine,  for  he 
said  that,  on  his  pointing  out  to  his  friend  Munden  the  quality  of 
the  Porter's  speech,  Munden  was  duly  struck  by  it,  and  expressed 
his  regret  at  never  having  played  the  part."  At  the  meeting  of  the 
New  Shakspere  Society,  June  26,  1874,  Dr.  Furnivall  stated  that 
Mr.  Hales's  conclusions  had  been  accepted  by  every  critic  in  Eng- 
land whose  opinion  he  had  asked;  among  them  Mr.  Tennyson, 
Mr.  J.  Spedding,  Mr.  A.  J.  Ellis,  Professor  Dowden,  and  Professor 
H.  Morley. 

2.    Porter  of  hell-gate.     Cf.  Oth.  iv.  2.  90 :  — 


Scene  III]  Notes 


225 


"  You,  mistress, 

That  have  the  office  opposite  to  St.  Peter, 
And  keep  the  gate  of  hell." 

Old.  A  "colloquial  intensive"  used  several  times  by  S.;  as  in 
M.  of  V.  iv.  2.  16,  2  Hen.  IV.  ii.  4.  21,  M.  W.  i.  4.  5,  Much  Ado, 
v.  2.  98.  Mr.  J.  R.  Wise  {Shakespeare  :  His  Birthplace,  etc. )  says : 
"  Whenever  there  has  been  an  unusual  disturbance  or  ado  .  .  .  the 
lower  orders  round  Stratford-on-Avon  invariably  characterize  it  by 
the  phrase,  '  There  has  been  old  work  to-day.' "  Cf.  the  modern 
slang  expression,  "  a  high  old  time." 

4.    A  farmer,  etc.     Malone  quotes  Hall,  Satires,  iv.  6:  — 

"  Ech  Muck-worme  will  be  rich  with  lavvlesse  gaine, 
Altho  he  smother  vp  mowes  of  seuen  yeares  graine, 
And  hang'd  himself  when  corne  grows  cheap  again." 

This  helps  to  fix  the  date  of  the  play  in  1606;  for  the  price  of 
wheat  in  that  year  was  lower  than  it  was  for  thirteen  years  after- 
wards, and  barley  and  malt  were  considerably  cheaper  than  in  the 
next  two  years. 

6.  Come  in  time.  That  is,  you  've  come  in  time;  probably  allud- 
ing to  his  suicide.  Napkins  =  handkerchiefs.  Cf.  Z.  C.  15  :  "Oft 
did  she  heave  her  napkin  to  her  eyne;  "  also  Oth.  iii.  3.  287,  290, 
321,  etc.  Enoiv  is  the  plural  of  enough.  Cf.  M.  of  V.  iii.  5.  24: 
"Christians  enow."  See  also  Id.  iv.  I.  29,  Hen.  V.  iv.  I.  240,  etc. 

15.  A  French  hose.     Cf.    The  Black   Year,  by  Anthony  Nixon, 
1606:  "Gentlemen  this  year  shall  be  much  wronged  by  their  tay- 
lors,  for  their  consciences  are  now  much  larger  than  ever  they  were, 
for  where  [whereas]  they  were  wont  to  steale  but  half  a  yeard  of 
brood  cloth  in  making  up  a  payre  of  breeches,  now  they  do  largely 
nicke  their  customers  in  the  lace  too,"  etc.     In  M.  of  V.  i.  2.  80 
there  is  another   reference  to  the  large  "round  hose"  borrowed 
from  France.     Cf.  also  Hen.  V.  iii.  7.  56. 

1 6.  Roast  your  goose.     Playing  upon  the  two  meanings  of  goose. 

1 7.  At  quiet.     Dr.  Furnivall  remarks  that,  "  as  S.  uses  both  '  in 

MACBETH —  15 


226  Notes  [Act  ii 

rest'  and  'at  rest,'  there  is  nothing  strange  in  his  using  both  '  i n 
quiet '  and  'at  quiet.'  "  Cf.  Judges,  xviii.  27. 

20.  The  primrose  way,  etc.  Cf.  Ham.  i.  3.  50 :  "  the  primrose 
path  of  dalliance;  "  and  A.  IV.  iv.  5.  56:  "the  flowery  way  that 
Jeads  to  the  broad  gate  and  the  great  fire." 

25.  The  second  cock.  The  time  meant  is  shown  by  A',  and  J.  iv. 
4.  3  :  "  The  second  cock  hath  crow'd,  ...  't  is  three  o'clock."  Cf. 
Lear,  iii.  4.  121  and  M.  N.  D.  ii.  I.  267. 

30.  Timely.  S.  often  uses  adjectives  ending  in  -ly  as  adverbs. 
Cf.  unmannerly  in  loi  below,  etc.  We  have  timely  as  an  adjective 
in  iii.  3.  7. 

34.  Physics.     Cures.     Cf.  Cymb.  iii.  2.  34 :  "  For  it  doth  physic 
love."     See  also  W.   T.\.  I.  43   and  Temp.  iii.  I.  I. 

35.  So  bold  to  call.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  iii.  3.  10 :  "  So  fond  to  come 
abroad,"  etc. 

36.  Limited.     Appointed.     Cf.  M.  for  M.  iv.  2.    176:   "having 
the  hour  limited;  "  K.John,  v.  2.  123:   "warrant  limited,"  etc. 

42.  Combustion.     Used  by  S.  only  here  and  in  Hen.  VIII.  v.  4. 
51;   in  both  instances  figuratively.      Combustions  occurs  in  V.  and 
A.  1162:  "As  dry  combustious  matter  is  to  fire." 

43.  Obscure.     Accent  on  the  first  syllable,  as  in  Rich.  II.  iii.  3. 
154,  etc.     Dissyllabic  adjectives  and  participles  are  often  thus  ac- 
cented when  coming  before  a  noun,  but  on  the  final  syllable  when 
in  the  predicate.     The  obscure  bird  is  "  the  nightly  owl "  (  T.  A.  ii. 
3.  97).     See  on  ii.  2.  3  above. 

45.   Cf.  Cor.  i.  4.  6 1 :  — 

"Thou  madest  thine  enemies  shake,  as  if  the  world 
Were  feverous  and  did  tremble." 

The  reference  is  to  an  ague,  or  "  shaking  fever,"  as  it  is  called  in 
K.  John,  ii.  i.  228. 

48.  Tongue  nor  heart,  etc.  Cf.  i.  3.  60  above.  On  the  use  of 
the  negatives,  cf.  Sonn.  86.  9 :  "He  nor  that  affable  familiar  ghost 
.  .  .  cannot  boast." 


Scene  III]  Notes  227 

50.  Confusion.     Destruction.     Cf.  iii.  5.  29  below;   also  K.  John, 

iv.  3-  153- 

51.  Hath  broke  ope,  etc.     This  has  been  called  "a  confusion  of 
metaphors,"  but  it  is  not  really  such.     The  temple  is  the  body  (cf. 
2  Corinthians,  ci.  16),  and  the  life  of  the  building  has  been  stolen 
from  it  by  the  murderer. 

56.  Gorgon.  For  the  allusion  to  the  Gorgon's  head,  cf.  T.  and 
C.v.  10.  18:  — 

"  Go  into  Troy  and  say  there  Hector 's  dead ; 
There  is  a  word  will  Priam  turn  to  stone." 

60.  Death's  counterfeit.  Cf.  R.  of  L.  402:  "the  map  of  death" 
(that  is,  sleep) ;  and  M.  N.  D.  iii.  2.  364 :  "  death-counterfeiting 
sleep." 

62.  The  great  doom's  image.  An  image  of  the  Last  Judgment. 
Cf.  Lear,  v.  3.  264. 

64.    Countenance.     Be  in  keeping  with. 

66.   Parley.     CLparle  in  Rich.  II.  i.  1. 192  and  3  Hen.  VI.  v.  1 .  16. 

75.   Had  I  but  died,  etc.     Cf.  W.  T.  iv.  4.  472:  — 

"  If  I  might  die  within  this  hour,  I  have  liv'd 
To  die  when  I  desire." 

77.  Mortality.     Human  .  life.     Cf.  R.   of  L.  403 :    "  life's  mor- 
tality; "  K.John,  v.  7.  5  :  "  the  ending  of  mortality;  "  M.  for  M. 
iii.  2.  196:  "No  might  nor  greatness  in  mortality,"  etc. 

78.  Is  dead.     The  singular  verb  with  two -singular  nominatives  is 
not  rare  in  S.     Lees  in  the  next  line  seems  to  be  treated  as  virtually 
singular. 

86.  Badg'd.  Not  elsewhere  used  as  a  verb  by  S.  Cf.  the  noun 
in  2  Hen.  VI.  iii.  2.  200 :  "  Murder's  crimson  badge." 

^.Expedition.  Haste.  Cf.  T.  G.  of  V.  i.  3.  37  :"  the  speediest 
expedition,"  etc. 

96.  Outrun.     These  past  indicative  forms  in  u  are  common  in  S. 

97.  Lac'd.     To  lace  was  "to  adorn  with  a  texture  sewed  on." 


228  Notes  [Act  ii 

S.  uses  it  literally  in  Muck  Ado,  iii.  4.  20 :  "  cloth  o'  gold,  and  cuts, 
and  laced  with  silver;  "  and  figuratively,  as  here,  in  R.  and  J.  iii. 

5.8:  — 

"  What  envious  streaks 

Do  lace  the  severing  clouds  in  yonder  east !  " 

and  Cymb.  ii.  2.  22 :  — 

"  White  and  azure  lac'd 

With  blue  of  heaven's  own  tinct." 

See  also  Sonn.  67.  4.     For  golden  blood,  see  on  ii.  2.  56  above. 

98.  A  breach  in  nature.  Steevens  cites  Sidney,  Arcadia  :  "  bat- 
tering down  the  wals  of  their  armour,  making  breaches  almost  in 
every  place,  for  troupes  of  wounds  to  enter ;  "  and  A  Herring's 
Tayk,  1598:  "A  batter'd  breach  where  troopes  of  wounds  may 
enter  in." 

101.  Breech V  -with  gore.  Covered  with  blood  as  with  a  garment. 
Corruption  of  the  text  has  been  suspected,  and  various  emendations 
have  been  proposed. 

103.  Make 's.     The  abbreviation  's  for  his  (also  for  us)  was  com- 
mon even  in  serious  style. 

104.  T.  Whately  {Remarks   on    Characters   of  5.)  says  :   "On 
Lady  Macbeth's  seeming  to  faint  while  Banquo  and  Macduff  are 
solicitous  about  her,  Macbeth,  by  his  unconcern,  betrays  a  con- 
sciousness that  the  fainting  is  feigned."     Fletcher  {Studies  of  S.), 
referring  to  this  theory  that  the  fainting  is  feigned,  remarks  :  "  We 
believe,  however,  that  the  reader  will  bear  in  mind  the  burst  of 
anguish  which  had  been  forced  from  her  by  Macbeth's  very  first 
ruminations  upon  his  act  :  'These  deeds  must  not  be  thought  After 
these  ways;  so,  it  will  make  us  mad.'     Remembering  this,  he  will 
see  what  a  dreadful  accumulation  of  suffering  is  inflicted  upon  her 
by  her  husband's  own  lips   [ii.  3.   93-98],   painting  in   stronger, 
blacker  colours  than  ever  the  guilty  horror  of  their  common  deed." 

105.  Argument.    Theme,  subject.     Cf.  Sonn.  76.  10  :  "  And  you 
and  love  are  still  my  argument,"  etc.     See  also  Milton,  P.  /,.  i.  24  : 
"  the  highth  of  this  great  argument." 


Scene  IV]  Notes  229 

107.  Hid  in  an  auger-hole.  Concealed  in  obscure  places.  Cf. 
Cor.  iv.  6.  87  :  "  Confin'd  Into  an  auger's  bore." 

109.  Nor  our  strong  sorrow,  etc.  Cf.  iv.  3.  209,  and  3  Hen. 
VI.  iii.  3.  22  :  "  And  give  my  tongue-tied  sorrows  leave  to 
speak." 

in.  When  we  have,  etc.  When  we  have  clothed  ourselves  anJ 
no  longer  suffer  with  cold.  The  Porter  had  observed  that  the  place 
was  "  too  cold  for  hell." 

1 1 6.  Pretence.  Intention,  purpose.  Cf.  W.  T.  iii.  2.  18,  Cor. 
i.  2.  20,  etc.  In  ii.  4.  24  below  we  have/r^«</  =  intend,  design. 

118.  Put  on  manly  readiness.  That  is,  dress  ourselves.  So 
ready  =  dressed.  Cf.  Cymb.  ii.  3.  86  :  — 

"  Cloten.  Your  lady's  person ;  is  she  ready? 
Lady.  Ay, 

To  keep  her  chamber;  " 

and  the  stage-direction  in  i  Hen.  VI.  ii.  I.  38:  "The  French  leap 
ever  the  walls  in  their  shirts.  Enter,  several  ways,  the  Bastard  of 
Orleans,  Alencon,  and  Reignier,  half  ready  and  half  unready." 

122.    Easy.     Easily;  the  adjective  used  adverbially,  as  often. 

125.  There  's.  The  singular  verb  is  often  used  before  a  plural 
subject.  Cf.  Cymb.  iv.  2.  371  :  "There  is  no  more  such  masters," 
etc.  Near  —  nearer;  as  in  Rich.  II.  iii.  2.  64 :  "  Nor  near  nor 
farther  off,"  etc. 

127.   Hath  not  yet  lighted.     Has  not  yet  spent  its  force. 

129.  Dainty  of.     Particular  about.     Cf.    T.   and  C.  i.  3.  145  : 
"  grows  dainty  of  his  worth." 

130.  There  's  warrant,  etc.     Cf.  A.  W.   ii.  i.  33  :  — 

"  Bertram.  I  '11  steal  away. 

First  Lord.  There  's  honour  in  that  theft." 

SCENE  IV.  —  4.  Trifled.  Made  trivial.  In  Elizabethan  writers 
intransitive  verbs  are  often  made  transitive. 


230 


Notes  [Act  ii 


Knowings.     Experiences.     Cf.  Cymb.  i.  4.  30  and  ii.  3.  102;  but 
the  plural  is  used  by  S.  only  here. 

6.  Threaten  his  bloody  stage.     "  Frown  upon   the   earth  where 
such  horrors  are  enacted  "    (Moberly). 

7.  Strangles  the  travelling  lamp.     Cf.  the  description  of  the  sun 
in  I  Hen.  IV.  i.  2.  226  :  — 

—  "breaking  through  the  foul  and  ugly  mists 
Of  vapours,  that  did  seem  to  strangle  him." 

The  folio  has  here  "  the  trauailing  Lampe."  In  the  time  of  S.  the 
present  distinction  between  travel  and  travail  was  not  recognized, 
the  forms  being  used  indiscriminately  without  regard  to  the 
meaning. 

8.  Is  V  night 's predominance,  etc.     "Is  it  that  night  is  aggres- 
sive, or  that  the  day  is  ashamed  to  appear  ?  "     Predominant  and 
predominance   were    astrological    terms.     Cf.    Lear,    i.    2.     134  : 
"  Knaves,    thieves,   and   treachers    by  spherical    predominance  ; " 
A.  W.  i.  i.  211  :  — 

"  Helena.  The  wars  have  so  kept  you  under  that  you  must  needs 
have  been  born  under  Mars. 

Parolles.  When  he  was  predominant  ?  " 

See  also  W.  T.  i.  2.  202. 

10.   On  the  description  of  prodigies  that  follows,  cf.  extract  from 
Holinshed,  p.  163  above. 

12.  Towering  and  place  are  terms  of  falconry.     Donne  in  one 
of  his  poems  says  of  a  hawk  :  "  Which  when  herself  she  lessens  in 
the  aire,  You  then  first  say  that  high  enough  she  towers."     Place 
=  pitch,  the  highest  flight  of  the  hawk.     For  pitch,  cf.  Rich.  II. 
i.  i.  109:    "How  high  a  pitch  his  resolution  soars!"     See  also 
I  Hen.  VI.  ii.  4.  ii  and/.  C.  i.  I.  78. 

13.  Mousing.     "A  very  effective  epithet,  as  contrasting  the  fal- 
con, in  her  pride  of  place,  with  a  bird  that  is  accustomed  to  seek 
its  prey  on  the  ground  "  (Talbot). 

14.  Horses.     A  monosyllable  here.     Cf.  sense  in  v.  I.  27  below, 


Scene  IV]  Notes  23 1 

and  in  Sonn.  112.  10.  In  A.  and  C.  iii.  7.  7  we  have  "  horse  "  = 
"horses"  ;  and  in  K.John,  ii.  I.  289,  "horse  back"  for  "horse's 
back." 

15.   Minions.     Darlings.     See  on  i.  2.  19  above. 

17.  As.     As  if.     See  on  i.  4.  n  and  ii.  2.  27. 

1 8.  Eat.     Changed  by  many  critics  to   ate,  which    is   nowhere 
found  in  the  early  copies.     The  present  is  there  more  frequently 
printed  "  eate."     For  the  participle  S.  uses  both  eat  (as  in  L.  L.  L. 
iv.  2.  26,  Rich.  //.  v.  5.  85,  etc.)  and  eaten  (see  i.  3.  84  and  iv.  I. 
64  in  the  present  play). 

24.   Pretend.     See  on  ii.  3.116  above. 

28.  Ravin  up.     Devour  ravenously.     Cf.  M.  for  M.  I.  2.   133  : 
"Like  rats  that  ravin  down  their  proper  bane."     In  iv.  I.  24  below 
we  have  "  ravin'd  "  =  ravenous.     Cf.  A.  W.  iii.  2.  120  :  "the  ravin 
lion." 

29.  Like.     Likely;  as  often  in  S.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  ii.  7.  49  :  "  Is  't 
like  that  lead  contains  her  ?  " 

31.  Scone.  Of  this  ancient  town,  which  was  situated  about  two 
miles  and  a  half  from  Perth,  few  memorials  now  remain.  Of  Scone 
Abbey,  founded  by  Alexander  I.  in  1107,  in  which  the  Scottish 
kings  from  that  date  down  to  the  time  of  James  II.  were  crowned, 
nothing  is  left  but  part  of  an  aisle  now  used  as  a  mausoleum  by  the 
Earl  of  Mansfield,  on  whose  estate  it  stands.  The  old  market-cross 
of  Scone  also  remains  in  the  pleasure-grounds  of  Scone  Palace,  as 
the  seat  of  the  earl  is  called.  At  the  north  side  of  the  mansion  is  a 
tumulus,  known  as  the  Moat  Hill,  said  to  have  been  composed  of 
earth  from  the  estates  of  those  who  here  attended  on  the  kings. 

The  famous  "stone  of  Scone,"  which  served  for  many  ages  as 
the  seat  on  which  the  kings  were  crowned,  now  forms  part  of  the 
English  coronation-chair  (see  cut  on  p.  271).  The  connection 
that  the  stone  is  supposed  to  have  with  the  destinies  of  the  Scots  is 
commemorated  in  ancient  verse,1  which  has  been  thus  rendered:  — 

1  "  Ni  fallat  fatum,  Scoti  quocumque  locatum 
Invenient  lapidem  regnare  tenentur  ibidem." 


Notes  [Act  ii 


"  Unless  the  Fates  are  faithless  grown, 

And  prophet's  voice  be  vain, 
Where'er  is  found  this  sacred  stone, 
The  Scottish  race  shall  reign." 

According  to  national  tradition,  this  stone  was  the  pillow  of  Jacob 
at  Bethel,  and  long  served  for  the  coronation-seat  of  the  kings  of 
Ireland.  It  is  said  to  have  been  brought  from  Ireland  to  lona  by 
Fergus,  the  son  of  Ere,  then  to  have  been  deposited  in  Dunstaff- 
nage  Castle  (still  standing  near  Oban),  and  to  have  been  trans- 
ported thence  to  Scone  by  Kenneth  II.  in  the  year  842.  Its  history 
from  that  date  is  well  authenticated,  but  the  rest  is  of  course  more 
or  less  mythical. 

33.  Colme-kill.  "  The  cell  (or  chapel)  of  Columba,"  now 
known  as  Icolmkill,  or  lona,  a  barren  islet,  about  eight  miles  south 
of  Staffa.  Here  St.  Columba,  an  Irish  Christian  preacher,  founded 
a  monastery  in  A.D.  563,  and  here  he  died  about  A.D.  597,  or  at  the 
time  when  Augustine  landed  in  Kent  to  convert  the  English. 
From  this  monastery  in  lona  Christianity  and  civilization  sprea*', 
not  only  through  Scotland,  but  even  to  the  Orkneys  and  Iceland. 
Hence  the  island  came  to  be  considered  holy  ground,  and  there 
was  a  traditionary  belief  that  it  was  to  be  specially  favoured  at  the 
dissolution  of  the  world.  According  to  the  ancient  prophecy, 

"  Seven  years  before  that  awful  day 

When  time  shall  be  no  more, 
A  watery  deluge  shall  o'ersweep 

Hibernia's  mossy  shore ; 
The  green-clad  Isla,  too,  shall  sink, 

While  with  the  great  and  good, 
Columba's  happier  isle  shall  rear 

Her  towers  above  the  flood." 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  monarchs  desired  to  be  buried  in 
this  sacred  spot,  and  that  thus  it  became  the  cemetery  where,  as 
Collins  has  sung, 

"  The  mighty  kings  of  three  fair  realms  are  laid  "  — 


Scene  IV] 


Notes 


233 


"Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Norway.  No  trace  of  their  tombs  now  re- 
mains, the  oldest  monuments  left  on  the  island  being  those  of  Irish 
ecclesiastics  of  the  I2th  century.  Besides  these  there  are  the  ruins 
of  a  chapel  (of  the  nth  century),  of  a  nunnery  (founded  about 
1180),  and  of  the  cathedral  church  of  St.  Mary,  built  early  in  the 
1 3th  century.  Of  the  three  hundred  and  fifty  sculptured  stone 
crosses  which  formerly  adorned  the  island,  only  two  are  still  stand- 
ing. All  the  others  were  thrown  into  the  sea,  about  the  year  1560, 
by  order  of  the  anti-Popish  Synod  of  Argyll. 

36.    Thither.     That  is,  to  Scone. 

40.  Benison.  Cf.  Lear,  i.  i.  268:  "our  grace,  our  love,  our 
benison;  "  Id.  iv.  6.  229 :  "The  bounty  and  the  benison  of  heaven." 


ST.  COLME'S  INCH 


ACT   III 

SCENE  I. 7.  Shine.    "  Appear  with  all  the  lustre  of  conspicuous 

truth"  (Johnson). 


234  Notes  [Act  in 

10.  Hush,  no  more.  "These  words  are  in  perfect  moral  keeping 
with  Banquo's  previous  resolute  fightings  against  evil  suggestions" 
(Clarke).  Sennet  (also  written  sennit,  senet,  synnef,  cynet,  signet, 
and  sygnati)  occurs  often  in  the  old  stage-directions,  and  seems  to 
indicate  a  particular  set  of  notes  on  the  trumpet,  or  cornet,  different 
from  a  flourish. 

13.  All-thing.     Everyway.     Cf.  the  adverbial  use  of  nothing  and 
something. 

14.  Solemn.      Ceremonious,   formal.       Cf.     T.    A.    v.    2.    115: 
"solemn   feast"  (also  in  A.   W.  ii.  3.  187);    T.  of  S.  iii.  2.  103: 
"  our  solemn  festival,"  etc. 

16.  Command  upon  me.  "Command  upon"  is  not  found  else- 
where in  S.,  but  in  Per.  iii.  i.  3  we  have  the  noun  similarly  used :  — 

"  and  thou,  that  hast 
Upon  the  winds  command,  bind  them  in  brass." 

The  -which.     Not  unfrequent  in  S.     Cf.  v.  8.  41  below. 

21.  Still.  Always,  ever;  as  very  often  in  S.  Cf.  M.  of  V.  i.  I. 
I7»  !36,  Temp.  i.  2.  229,  Rich.  II.  ii.  i.  22,  etc.  Grave  =  weighty, 
of  importance;  as  in  Rich.  III.  ii.  3.  20:  "politic  grave  counsel." 
Prosperous  —  to  our  advantage. 

25.  Go  not  my  horse,  etc.  Cf.  Rich.  II.  ii.  I.  300:  "Hold  out 
my  horse,  and  I  will  first  be  there."  The  better  =  better  than  usual, 
or  than  I  expect  he  will. 

29.  Are  bestow 'd.  Have  betaken  themselves.  Cf.  iii.  6.  24  below; 
also  Ham.  iii.  I.  33,  44,  Hen.  V.  iv.  3.  68,  etc. 

33.  Therewithal,  etc.  That  is,  we  shall  have  other  state  matters 
to  discuss  along  with  it.  Cf.  Hen.  V.  5.  i .  45 :  "  any  cause  of 
policy." 

38.    Commend.     See  on  i.  7.  1 1  above. 

42.  The  sweeter  welcome.  It  is  doubtful  whether  welcome  is  a 
noun  or  an  adjective.  In  the  latter  case,  sweeter  is  used  adverbially. 
S.  uses  both  ourself  and  ourselves  in  this  "  regal "  sense.  Cf. 


Scene  I]  Notes  235 

Rich.  If.  i.  i.  16:  "  ourselves  will  hear;"  Id.  1.4.42:  "We  will 
ourself  in  person,"  etc. 

43.  While  then.  Till  then.  While  and  whiles  are  occasionally 
so  used.  Cf.  T.  N.  iv.  3.  28  :  — 

"  He  shall  conceal  it 
Whiles  you  are  willing  it  shall  come  to  note." 

See  also  Rich.  II.  i.  3.  22. 

God  be  with  you  is  metrically  =  "  God  b'  wi'  you."  Our  good-by 
(cf.  the  Fr.  adieu}  is  a  contraction  of  this  contraction. 

48.  But  to  be  safely  thus.  We  must  assume  "is  something"  in 
antithesis  to  "  is  nothing." 

50.  Would  be  feared.     Is  to  be  feared,  should  be  feared. 

51.  To.     In  addition  to.     Cf.  i.  6.  19. 

55.   My  Genius,  etc.     Cf.  A.  and  C.  ii.  3.  19:  — 

"  Thy  demon,  that 's  thy  spirit  which  keeps  thee,  is 
Noble,  courageous,  high,  unmatchable, 
Where  Caesar's  is  not ;  but  near  him  thy  angel 
Becomes  a  fear,  as  being  o'erpower'd." 

This  is  from  North's  Plutarch :  "  For  thy  demon,  said  he  (that 
is  to  say,  the  good  angel  and  spirit  that  keepeth  thee),  is  afraid  of 
his;  and  being  courageous  and  high  when  he  is  alone,  becometh 
fearful  and  timorous  when  he  cometh  near  unto  the  other." 

62.    With.    By;  as  with  is  often  used  with  the  agent  or  the  cause. 

64.  Fil'd.  Defiled;  but  not  that  word  contracted.  It  is  used  in 
prose:  as  in  Holland's  Pliny,  xiv.  19:  "If  the  grapes  have  been 
filed  by  any  ordure  or  dung  falne  from  above  thereupon." 

66.  Vessel.     Often  used  figuratively  by  S.     Cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  iv. 
4.  44, /.  C.  v.  5.  13,  W.  T.  iii.  3.  21,  etc. 

67.  Eternal  jewel.     Immortal  soul.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  i.  I.  180:  — 

"A  jewel  in  a  ten-times-barr'd-up  chest 
Is  a  bold  spirit  in  a  loyal  breast." 

For  the  use  of  eternal,  cf.  K.  John,  iii.  4.  18:  "the  eternal  spirit." 


236  Notes  [Act  m 

70.  The  list.     Elsewhere  S.  has  lists  in  this  sense.     Cf.  Rich.  II. 
i.  2..  52,  Id.  i.  3.  32,  38,  43,  i  Hen.  VI.  v.  5.  32,  etc.      He  has  list 
several  times  in  the  more  general  sense  of  boundary,  limit;    as  in 
A.  W.  ii.  i.  33,  i  Hen.  IV.  iv.  I.  51,  Ham.  iv.  5.  99,  etc. 

71.  Champion  me  to  the  utterance.     Fight  with  me  a  entrance ; 
often  incorrectly  printed  a  I* entrance,  as  in  the  quotation  that  fol- 
lows :  "  A  challenge,  or  a  combat  a  r entrance,  to  extremity,  was  a 
fixed  term  in  the  law  of  arms,  used  when  the  combatants  engaged 
with  an  odium  internecinum,  an  intention  to  destroy  each  other,  in 
opposition  to  trials  of  skill  at  festivals,  or  on  other  occasions,  where 
the  contest  was  only  for   reputation  or  a  prize"  (Johnson).     Cf. 
Cymb.  iii.  I.  73:   "Behoves  me  keep  at  utterance"  (that  is,  defend 
to  the  uttermost). 

79.  Passed  in  probation  -with  you.     Spent   in   proving  to  you. 
For  probation  =  proof,  cf.  Oth.  iii.   3.   365,  M.  for  M.  v.   I.  156, 
Cymb.  v.  5.  362,  etc. 

80.  Borne  in  hand.     Kept  in  expectation,  flattered  with  false 
hopes.     Cf.  T.  of  S.  iv.  2.  3,  Cymb.  v.  5.  43,  Ham.  ii.  2.  67,  etc.     In 
1572,  an  act  was  passed  against  "such  as  practise  abused  sciences, 
whereby  they  bear  the  people  in  hand  that  they  can  tell  their  desti- 
nies," etc. 

82.  To  a  notion  craz'd.  Even  to  the  most  feeble  apprehension. 
Cf.  Lear,  i.  4.  248:  "His  notion  weakens;  "  Cor.  v.  6.  107:  "his 
own  notion,"  etc. 

87.  GospeWd.    Governed  by  gospel  precepts.    See  Matthew,  v.  44. 

88.  To  pray.     As  to  pray.     See  on  ii.  3.  35  above. 

91.  Ay,  in  the  catalogue,  etc.  Yes,  in  a  mere  list  of  men  as  male 
human  beings  you  would  be  reckoned,  just  as  the  meanest  cur  is 
counted  among  dogs. 

93.  Shoughs.  An  obsolete  spelling  of  shocks,  or  rough-coated 
dogs.  Water-rugs  were  "  a  kind  of  poodle,"  and  "  demi-wolves,  a 
cross  between  dogs  and  wolves,  like  the  Latin  fycisci."  Clept  is  the 
participle  from  clepe,  to  call.  Cf.  Ham.  i.  4.  19:  "They  clepe  us 
drunkards;  "  L.  L.  L.  v.  i.  23 :  "  he  clepeth  a  calf  cauf;  "  V.  and  A. 


Scene  I]  Notes  2J7 

995  :  "  She  clepes  him  king  of  graves,"  etc.  Yclept  is  the  same  par- 
ticiple with  the  old  English  prefix.  S.  uses  it  in  L.  L.  L.\.  I.  42 
and  v.  2.  602. 

94.  The  valued  file.  The  classification  according  to  value  or 
quality,  as  distinguished  from  the  "  catalogue,"  or  "  the  bill  that 
writes  them  all  alike."  Schmidt  makes  valued  an  adjective;  some 
take  it  to  be  the  passive  participle  used  in  an  active  sense 
(=  valuing). 

96.  Housekeeper.  Watch-dog.  In  Topsell's  Hist,  of  Beasts 
(1658)  the  "housekeeper"  is  enumerated  among  dogs. 

98.  Clos'd.     Enclosed.     Cf.  R.  andj.  i.  4.  1 10 :  "a  despised  life 
clos'd  in  my  breast." 

99.  Addition.     See  on  i.  3.  106.     From  —  apart  from;   as  often. 
105.    Grapples.     On  the  metaphor,  cf.  Ham.  i.  3.  63:  "Grapple 

them  to  thy  soul  with  hoops  of  steel."    See  also  Hen.  V.  iii.  prol.  18. 

in.  Tugged  with  fortune.  Pulled  about  in  wrestling  with  for- 
tune. Cf.  W.  T.  iv.  4.  508 :  "  Let  myself  and  fortune  Tug  for  the 
time  to  come."  See  also  K.  John,  iv.  3.  146,  2  Hen.  VI.  iii.  2. 
173,  etc. 

113.    On  'f.     Of  it.    Cf.  line  130  below,  and  see  on  i.  3.  84  above. 

115.  Distance.  Alienation.  It  was  a  fencing  term,  denoting  the 
space  between  antagonists.  Cf.  M.  W.  ii.  I.  233:  "In  these  times, 
you  stand  on  distance,  your  passadoes,  stoccadoes,  and  I  know  not 
what;"  Id.  ii.  3.  27:  "thy  punts,  thy  stock,  thy  reverse,  thy  dis- 
tance," etc.  See  also  A.  W.  v.  3.  212,  K.  andj.  ii.  4.  22,  etc. 

117.  My  nearest  of  life.  My  inmost  life.  See  on  ii.  I.  24: 
"  kind'st  leisure." 

119.  Rid  my  will  avouch  it.     Let  my  will  answer  for  it,  own  it 
as  an  arbitrary  act.     Cf.  M.  N.  D.\.  I.  106,  Hen.  V.  v.  I.  77,  etc. 

1 20.  For.     Because  of,  for  the  sake  of. 

121.  Loves.     The  plural  is  used  because  the  love  of  several  per- 
sons is  referred  to.     This  use  of  the  plural  with  abstract  nouns  is 
very  common  in  S.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  iv.    I.   314:   "your  sights;"/^, 
v.  2.  38 :  "  our  calm  contents,"  etc.     See  also  v.  8.  61  below. 


238  Notes  [Act  m 

122.   Who.  Often  used  for  whom.  Cf.  iii.  4. 42  and  iv.  3. 171  below. 

128.  Advise.     Instruct.     Cf.  Lear,  \.   3.   23,    Hen.  VIII.  i.    2. 
107,  etc. 

129.  The  perfect  spy  o'  the  time.     The  precise  time  when  you 
may  look  for   him.     Various   emendations  have   been   suggested. 
Mr.  F.  A.  Marshall  ("Henry  Irving"  ed.)  reads  and  points  thus: 
"Acquaint  you,  with  a  perfect  spy,  o'  the  time;  "  taking  with  as 
=  by,  and  spy  as  referring  to  the  3d  Murderer,  whom  he  intends  to 
send.     He  quotes  iii.  3.  2-4  in  support  of  this  view. 

130.  On't.     Of  the  time;   or,  perhaps,  of  the  deed. 

131.  Something  from.     At  some  distance  away  from.     Always 
thought,  etc.  =  it  being  kept  in  mind  that  I  must  be  free  from 
suspicion. 

133.  Rubs.  Hindrances,  impediments;  a  term  in  bowling.  See 
Rich.  II.  iii.  4.  4,  Hen.  V.  ii.  2.  188,  v.  2.  53,  Cor.  iii.  I.  60,  etc. 

136.  Embrace.     Undergo,   suffer.     Cf.    T.    G.  of  V.  v.  4.   126: 
"Thurio,  give  back,  or  else  embrace  thy  death." 

137.  Resolve  yourselves.    Come  to  a  determination,  make  up  your 
minds.     Cf.  A.  and  C.  iii.  n.  9,  3  Hen.  VI.  i.  I.  49,  W.  T.  v.  3. 
86,  etc. 

140.  It  is  concluded.  It  is  settled.  Hunter  remarks  that  such 
negotiations  with  assassins  were  not  uncommon  in  the  age  of  Eliza- 
beth. An  instance  had  recently  occurred  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Stratford.  Lodqwick  Grevile,  who  dwelt  at  Sesoncote,  in  Glouces- 
tershire, and  at  Milcote,  in  Warwickshire,  coveting  the  estate  of  one 
Webb,  his  tenant,  plotted  to  murder  him  and  get  the  estate  by  a 
forged  will.  This  was  successfully  accomplished  by  the  aid  of  two 
servants  whom  Grevile  engaged  to  do  the  deed.  Fearing  detection, 
one  of  the  assassins  afterwards  murdered  his  comrade.  The  body 
was  found,  and  the  investigation  led  to  the  arrest  and  conviction 
of  Grevile  and  his  servant,  the  surviving  murderer.  Grevile  stood 
mute,  and  was  pressed  to  death  on  November  14,  1589.  The  cir- 
cumstance must  have  been  well  known  to  S.,  as  the  Greviles  were 
at  this  time  patrons  of  the  living  of  Stratford. 


Scene  II]  Notes  239 

SCENE  II. —  5.  Content.  Satisfaction.  Clarke  remarks :  "This 
brief  soliloquy  allows  us  to  see  the  deep-seated  misery  of  the  mur- 
deress, the  profound  melancholy  in  which  she  is  secretly  steeped; 
while  on  the  instant  that  she  sees  her  husband  she  can  rally  her 
forces,  assume  exterior  fortitude,  and  resume  her  accustomed  hard- 
ness of  manner,  with  which  to  stimulate  him  by  remonstrance  almost 
amounting  to  reproach." 

9.  Sorriest.     See  on  ii.  2.  20  above. 

10.  Using.     Cherishing.      S.  joins  use  with  a  great  variety  of 
nouns. 

1 1 .  IVitfiotit  all  remedy.     Beyond  all  remedy ;   or  all  =  any,  as  in 
Hen.  VIII.  iv.  I.  113:  "without  all  doubt;  "  Sonn.  74.  2:  "with- 
out all  bail." 

13.  Scotch? d.  Wounded.  Cf.  Cor.  iv.  5.  198  :  "he  scotched  him 
and  notched  him,"  etc. 

16.  Frame  of  things.  Cf.  Ham.  ii.  2.  310:  "This  goodly  frame, 
the  earth."  Both  the  worlds  =  heaven  and  earth.  Cf.  Ham.  iv.  5. 
134,  where  it  means  "  this  world  and  the  next." 

20.  To  gain  our  peace.     The  later  folios  have  "  our  place,"  which 
is  adopted  by  some  editors;   but  "the  repetition  of  the  word. peace 
seems  very  much  in  S.'s  manner;    and  .  .  .  there  is  something 
much  higher  in  the  sentiment  conveyed  by  the  original  word  than 
in  that  of  place.     In  the  very  contemplation  of  the  murder  of  Ban- 
quo,  Macbeth  is  vainly  seeking  for  peace.     Banquo  is  the  object 
that  makes  him  eat  his  meal  in  fear  and  sleep  in  terrible  dreams  " 
(Knight). 

21.  On  the  torture,  etc.     "To  lie   upon  the  rack  of  our  own 
thoughts,  in  a  frenzy  of  restlessness."     Ecstasy  in  S.  means  "  any 
state  of  being  beside  one's  self."     Cf.  iv.  3.  170  below.     See  also 
Temp.  iii.  3.  108,  Much  Ado,  ii.  3.  157,  etc. 

23.   Life's  fitful  fever.     Cf.  M.for  M.  iii.  i.  75  :  "a  feverous  life." 
27.    Gentle  my  lord.     Like  "  Gracious  my  lord  "  (v.  5.  30  below), 

"  Good  my  lord,"  etc.     Sleek  is  not  used  elsewhere  as  a  verb  by  S. 

Cf.  Milton,  Camus,  882:  "Sleeking  her  soft  alluring  locks." 


240 


Notes  [Act  in 


30.  Let  your  remembrance,  etc.  "  Take  care  to  do  all  honour 
to  Banquo  by  looks  and  words  of  the  deepest  respect  ;  though  our 
royalty  will  never  be  safe,  so  long  as  it  is  necessary  to  keep  our 
honours  bright  by  steeping  them  in  flattery  "  (Moberly).  Remem- 
brance is  here  a  quadrisyllable;  as  in  IV.  T.  iv.  4.  76. 

34.  Visards.     Masks.     Cf.  M.   W.  iv.  4.  70,    L.  L.  L.  v.  2.  242, 
246,  271,  385,  404,  etc. 

35.  Leave.     Leave  off.     Cf.  "Where  did  I  leave?"  in  V.  and  A. 
715  and  Rich.  II.  v.  2.  4;   and  "Where  left  we  last?"  in  T.  of  S. 
iii.  I.  26. 

37.  Lives.     See  on  i.  3.  147. 

38.  But  in  them,  etc.     This  has  been  supposed  to  suggest  their 
murder;    but  see  p.   38   above.     Copy  —  copyhold,    or   terminable 
tenure  of  land,  as  distinguished  from  freehold. 

41.  Cloistered.     Steevens  remarks:    "The  bats  wheeling  round 
the  dim  cloisters  of  Queen's  College,  Cambridge,  have  frequently 
impressed  on  me  the  singular  propriety  of  this  original  epithet." 

42.  Shard-borne.     The  old  English  name  of  the  horny  wing-cases 
of  the  beetle  was  shards.     Cf.  A.  and  C.  iii.  2.  20  :  "  They  are  his 
shards  and  he  their  beetle  "  (that  is,  they  serve  as  wings  for  him) ; 
Cymb.  iii.  3.  20 :   "  the  sharded  beetle." 

44.  Note.     The  word  is  used  for  "  any  distinction  or  eminence." 
Cf.  A.  IV.  v.  3.  14:  "Offence  of  mighty  note;  "  L.   C.  233:  "  of 
holiest  note,"  etc. 

45.  Chuck.     A  term  of  endearment,  corrupted  from  chick.     Cf. 
Oth.  iii.  4.  49:  "What  promise,  chuck?"  and  see  Id.  iv.  2.  24, 
A.  and  C.  iv.  4.  2,  Hen.  V.  iii.  2.  26,  etc. 

46.  Seeling.     Blinding;   a  term  in  falconry.     "  To  seel  is  to  close 
the  eyelids  partially  or  entirely,  by  passing  a  fine  thread  through 
them;    this   was   done   to   hawks   until    they   became    tractable" 
(Nares).     Cf.  Oth.  i.  3.  270  and  iii.  3.  210;    also  A.  and  C.  iii. 

13.   112. 

49.  Cancel,  etc.  Cf.  Rich.  III.  iv.  4.  77  :  "  Cancel  his  bond  of 
life,  dear  God,  I  pray;  "  and  Cymb.  v.  4.  27:  — 


Scene  III]  Notes  24! 

"  take  this  life, 
And  cancel  these  cold  bonds." 

50.  Light  thickens.     Cf.  A.  and  C.  ii.  3.  27 :  — 

"  He  beats  thee  'gainst  the  odds ;  thy  lustre  thickens 
When  he  shines  by." 

51.  Kooky.    Rook-haunted,  frequented  by  rooks  or  crows.     Clarke 
remarks :   "  The  very  epithet  rooky  appears  to  us  to   caw  with  the 
sound  of  many  bedward  rooks  bustling  and  croaking  to  their  several 
roosts." 

52.  Drowse.     Used  by  S.  only  here  and  in  I  Hen.  IV.  iii.  2.  81. 

53.  Whiles.     See  on  ii.  i.  60.     For  the  plural  preys  (perhaps  = 
"their  several  preys"),  cf.  iii.  i.  121  and  v.  8.  61.     Rouse  is  used 
intransitively  by  S.  only  here  and  in  v.  5.  12. 

56.  Go  with  me.  "  Understand  what  my  meaning  is."  For  go 
witk  =  agree,  accord,  cf.  Ham.  i.  2.  15,  i.  3.  28,  i.  5.  49,  Lear,  iv. 
7.  5,  etc. 

SCENE  III.  —  Some  critics  have  thought  that  the  3d  Murderer 
was  Macbeth  himself  in  disguise.  See  Furness,  p.  160  (revised 
ed.  p.  200),  and  Notes  and  Queries  for  Sept.  ii,  Oct.  2,  Nov.  13, 
and  Dec.  4,  1869.  The  theory  is  sufficiently  refuted  by  Macbeth's 
talk  with  the  1st  Murderer  in  iii.  4. 

2.  He  needs  not  our  mistrust,  etc.  "  We  may  trust  him,  for  Mac- 
beth has  evidently  told  him  all  we  have  to  do.  Macbeth's  uneasi- 
ness makes  him  reinforce  the  party  with  a  cleverer  hand  "  (Moberly). 

6.  Lated.     Belated.     Used  by  S.  only  here  and  in  A.  and  C.  iii. 
11.3:  "I  am  so  lated  in  the  world." 

7.  To  gain  the  timely  inn.     Probably,  to  gain  the  inn  betimes; 
or  timely  —  "  welcome,  opportune." 

10.  The  note  of  expectation.  The  list  of  expected  guests.  For 
note,  cf.  M.  W.  iv.  2.  64,  T.  of  S.  i.  2.  145,  etc. 

14.    Enter  Fleance  with  a  torch.     Here  again  Fleance  carries  the 
torch  to  light  his  father.     The  "  Servant "  of  some  modern  eds.  is 
an  interpolation.     See  on  ii.  I.  I. 
MACBETH —  1 6 


242  Notes  [Act  in 

SCENE  IV. —  i.   At  first  And  last.     Probably  =  once  for  all. 
3.    Our  self.     See  on  iii.  i.  42. 

5.  Her  state.     Her  chair  of  state  at  the  head  of  the  table.     O. 
T.  N.  ii.  5.  50:   "Sitting  in  our  state;  "    I  Hen.  IV.  ii.  4.  415' 
"This  chair  shall  be  my  state;  "   Cor.  v.  4.  22:   "He  sits  in  hil 
state,"  etc.     In  best  time  is  used  by  S.  only  here,  though  he  often 
has  "in  good  time." 

6.  Reqinre.     Request,  ask;  not  in  the  stronger  sense  of  "de 
mand."     Cf.  Hen.  VIII.  ii.  4.  144:  "  In  humblest  manner  I  require 
your  highness;  "  A.  and  C.  iii.  12.  12:  — 

"  Lord  of  his  fortunes  he  salutes  thee,  and 
Requires  to  live  in  Egypt,"  etc. 

8.   Speaks.     Says.     Cf.  Oth.  v.  2.  327  and  iv.  3.  154  below. 

ii.  Large.  Unrestrained.  Cf.  A.  and  C.  iii.  6.  93:  "large  IT 
his  abominations." 

Anon.  Macbeth  has  just  caught  sight  of  the  murderer  standing 
at  the  door,  and  wishes  to  dismiss  him  before  pledging  the  measure 
On  measure,  cf.  Oth.  ii.  3.  31. 

14.   'Tis  better,  etc.     Tis  better  that  the  blood  should  be  on   .- 
thy  face  than  in  his  body.     If  we  accept  this  explanation,  he  withi* 
=  within  him.     Cf.  A.  and  C.  iii.  13.  98 :  "  So  saucy  with  the  hanc 
of  she  here." 

19.  Nonpareil.     S.  always  uses  the  definite  article  with  this  word, 
except  in  Temp.  iii.  2.  108. 

20.  Scap'd.    Not  "  'scap'd,"  as  often  printed.    The  word  is  foun<) 
in  prose;   as  in  Bacon,  Adv.  of  L.  ii.  14.  9:  "such  as  had  scapeA 
shipwreck."     S.  uses  it  much  oftener  than  escape.     Cf.  the  noun  in 
M.  of  V.  ii.  2.  174. 

23.  Casing.  Surrounding.  Cf.  Oth.  iii.  3.  464:  "You  element? 
that  clip  us  round  about." 

25.  Saucy.  Formerly  used  in  a  stronger  sense  than  now,  an<? 
often  =  insolent,  overbearing.  Cf.  Oth.  i.  i.  129,  J.  C.  i.  3.  12,  etc 

27.    Trenched  gashes.     Cf.  V.  and  A.  1052:  — 


Scene  IV]  Notes  243 

"  the  wide  wound  that  the  boar  had  trench'd 
In  his  soft  flank;  " 

und  T.  G.  of  V.  iii.  2.  7 :  — 

"  This  weak  impress  of  love  is  as  a  figure 
Trenched  in  ice." 

29.  Worm.  Frequently  used  by  Elizabethan  writers  for  a  ser- 
pent. Cf.  M.  for  M.  iii.  I.  17,  M.  N.  D.  iii.  2.  71,  A.  and  C.  v.  2, 
2143,  256,  261,  268,  etc. 

32.  We '//  hear   ourselves   again.     We  '11  talk  the  matter  over 
again.      For   ourselves  =   each   other,    cf.   K.  John,   ii.   i.    407: 
"  Make  work  upon  ourselves,"  etc. 

33.  The  feast  is  sold,  etc.     It  is  like  selling  a  feast,  not  giving  it, 
if  you  do  not  often  assure  your  guests  that  it  is  given  gladly.     The 
theer  =  the  usual  welcome. 

35.  To  feed,  etc.     Mere  feeding  had  better  be  done  at  home. 

36.  From  thence.     Away  from  home.     See  on  iii.  i.  131  above. 

38.  Now  good  digestion,  etc.     Cf.  Hen.  VIII.  i.  4.  92 :  — 

"  A  good  digestion  to  you  all ;  and,  once  more, 
I  shower  a  welcome  on  ye.     Welcome,  all." 

Or.  Bucknill  calls  this  "a  somewhat  physiological   grace." 

39.  May  Y  please  your   highness  sit.       That    is,   to    sit.      Cf. 
Ren.   VIII.   i.  4.   19,  etc.     We   have  the  to  inserted  after  please 
just  below  in  line  45. 

40.  Roofd.     Under  one  roof.     S.  does  not  use  the  verb  roof  in 
its  modern  sense. 

41.  Grac'd.     Honoured,  or  honourable. 

42.  Who.     See  on  iii.  I.  122.     The  passage  means,  "  I  hope  I 
may  have  cause  to  accuse  him  of  unkindness  for  his  absence  rather 
t;han  to  pity  him  for  any  mischance  that  may  have  occasioned  it." 

43-45.  His  absence,  etc.  Hunter  remarks  that  it  is  during  this 
speech  that  the  ghost  first  becomes  visible  to  Macbeth.  Me  had 
been  about  to  take  his  seat  according  to  the  invitation  of  Lennox, 


244  Notes  [Act  m 

but  now,  full  of  horror,  instead  of  doing  so,  he  starts  back,  which 
leads  to  the  invitation  of  Ross. 

Some  critics  have  thought  that  it  is  Duncan's  ghost,  not  Banquo's 
that  first  appears.  It  is  said  that  lines  71-73  cannot  apply  to 
Banquo,  who  had  not  been  buried;  but  the  same  objection  may  be 
made  to  the  words,  "  thy  bones  are  marrowless  "  (94),  addressed 
to  the  second  ghost.  These  are  simply  Macbeth's  vivid  expression 
of  the  general  idea  of  coming  back  from  the  dead,  and  must  not  lie 
taken  literally.  Macbeth  was  thinking  and  speaking  of  Banquo, 
and  it  is  both  natural  and  dramatically  proper  that  his  ghost,  if  any, 
should  rise  at  the  mention  of  his  name;  and  the  second  appearance 
is  in  response  to  Macbeth's  renewed  reference  to  him.  This  view 
is  confirmed  by  Dr.  Forman's  testimony  (see  p.  187). 

50.  Thou  canst  not  say  I  did  it.  This  proves  that  the  ghost  was 
Banquo's. 

55.  Upon  a  thought.  Used  by  S.  only  here.  It  is  =  "  with  a 
thought,"  which  occurs  in  Temp.  iv.  i.  64,  J.  C.  v.  3.  19,  A.  and  C. 
iv.  14.  9,  i  Hen.  IV.  ii.  4.  241,  etc.  Cf.  K.  John,  iv.  2.  175:  "fly 
like  thought;"  L.  L.  L.  iv.  3.  330:  "as  swift  as  thought,"  etc. 

57.  Extend  his  passion.  Prolong  the  fit.  Passion  is  used  by  S. 
of  any  violent  commotion  of  the  mind.  Cf.  iv.  3.  114  below. 

60.  O proper  stuff '.'  Ironical  and  contemptuous.  Proper  (=  fine, 
pretty,  etc.)  is  often  so  used.  Cf.  2  Hen.  VI.  i.  i.  132  :  "A  proper 
jest,  and  never  heard  before;  "  Hen.  VIIT.  i.  i.  98:  "A  proper  title 
of  a  peace;  "  Much  Ado,  i.  3.  54:  "A  proper  squire!  "  On  stuff, 
cf.  Temp.  ii.  i.  254:  "  What  stuff  is  this?"  2  Hen.  IV.  ii.  4.  214: 
"  Here  's  goodly  stuff  toward  !  "  etc. 

63.  Flaws.    The  word  (=  gust  of  wind)  is  here  used  figuratively; 
as  in  M.for  M.  ii.  3.  1 1  :  "  the  flaws  of  her  own  youth,"  etc. 

64.  Impostors  to  true  fear.     Impostors  when  compared  with  true 
fear;   a  not  uncommon  use  of  to. 

66.  Authorized  by.  Given  on  the  authority  of.  Cf.  L.  C.  104: 
"His  rudeness  so  with  his  authoriz'd  youth;  "  and  Sonn.  35.  6: 
"Authorizing  thy  trespass  with  compare."  S.  uses  the  word  in 


Scene  IV]  Notes  245 

these  three  places  only,  and  in  all  with  the  accent  on  the  second 
syllable. 

72.    Our  momiments,  etc.     Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.  ii.  8,  16:  — 

"  What  herce  or  steed  (said  he)  should  he  have  dight, 
But  be  entombed  in  the  raven  or  the  kight  ?  " 

76.  Human.  It  is  "  humane  "  in  the  folios,  in  which  the  modern 
"  human  "  is  nowhere  found.  The  accent  is  always  on  the  first  syl- 
lable, unless  W.  T.  Hi.  2.  166  is  an  exception.  In  Milton,  the 
modern  distinction,  in  meaning  and  accent,  between  humane  and 
human  is  recognized.  In  S.  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  determine 
which  of  the  two  senses  best  fits  the  word.  Gentle  is  proleptic. 
Cf.  i.  6.  3. 

80.  There  an  end.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  v.  I.  69. 

81.  Mortal.     See  on  i.  5.  41;   and  cf.  iv.  3.  3. 

84.  Lack.    Miss;  as  in  Cor.  iv.  I.  15,  A.  Y.  L.  iv.  I.  182,  A.  and  C. 
ii.  2.  172,  etc. 

85.  Muse.     Wonder.     Cf.  T.  G.  of  F.  i.  3.  64^:  "  Muse  not  that 
I  thus  suddenly  proceed,"  etc. 

91.  To  all  and  him,  etc.  I  long  to  drink  his  health  and  that  of 
all;  and  to  wish  every  one  all  good.  Cf.  /.  C.  iv.  3.  160,  Hen.  VIII. 
i.  4.  38,  etc. 

95.  Speculation.  Sight;  or,  perhaps,  intelligent  vision,  that  of  a 
living  person.  Cf.  T.  and  C.  iii.  3.  109.  The  eyes  are  called 
"speculative  instruments"  in  Oth.  i.  3.  271. 

100.  Russian  bear.     Cf.  Hen.  V.  iii.  7.  154- 

101.  Arnfd.     "Armoured;  "  to  use  a  word  applied  nowadays  to 
ironclad  ships  of  war.     For  the  Hyrcan  tiger,  cf.  3  Hen.  VI.  i.  4- 
155:  "tigers  of  Hyrcania,"  and  Ham.  ii.  2.  472:  "the  Hyrcanian 
beast."     In  M.  of  V.  ii.  7. 41,  we  have  "  Hyrcanian  deserts."     Hyr- 
cania was  a  district  south  and  southeast  of  the  Caspian  Sea.     It 
has  been  said  that  English  poets  probably  derived  their  ideas  of 
Hyrcania  and  the   tigers  from  Pliny's  Natural  History,  but  not 
through  Holland's  translation,  which  was  not  published  till  1601. 


246  Notes  [Act  in 

It  seems  to  me  quite  as  likely  that  they  had  in  mind  Virgil's  men^ 
tion  of  the  beasts  in  &n.  iv.  367 :  "  Hyrcanaeque  admorunt  ubera 
tigres." 

104.  Dare  me  to  the  desert,  etc.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  \.  I.  62-66. 

105.  If  trembling  I  inhabit  then.     This  is  the  great  crux  of  the 
play,  and  space  would  fail  for  enumerating  the  various  emendations 
and  explanations   that  the  critics  have  suggested.     Grant  White 
remarks  that  the  use  of  inhabit  is  "  highly  figurative  and  exceed 
ingly  rare,  but  neither  illogical  nor  without  example."     Cf.  Psalms, 
xxii.  3 :   "  O  thou  that  inhabitest  the  praises  of  Israel."     Steeven.' 
thinks  that  inhabit  may  mean  "  stay  within  doors,"  and  cites  A.  Y.  L 
iii.  3.  10 :    "  O  knowledge,  ill-inhabited !    worse   than   Jove   in    ? 
thatched  house!  "  (that  is,  ill-lodged). 

106.  The  baby  of  a  girl.     A  babyish  girl;   or,  perhaps,  baby -*• 
doll;   a  meaning  found  h\ Sidney,  Jonson,  and  other  writers  of  the 
time.     Walker  quotes  Sidney,  Arcadia  :  "  young  babes  think  babier. 
[dolls]  of  wondrous  excellency,  and  yet  the  babies  are  but  babies;  '' 
and  Astrophel  and  Stella:  "Sweet  babes  must  babies  have,  buX 
shrewd  [bad]  girls  must  be  beaten." 

107.  Mockery.     Mimicry,  delusive  imitation.     Cf.  Rich.  II,  iv.  I 
260  and  Hen.  V.  iv.  prol.  53. 

109.  Displaced.  Banished.  S.  uses  broke  as  the  participle  oftener 
than  broken. 

no.  Admired.  To  be  wondered  at,  strange;  if  it  be  not  used 
ironically  =  admirable. 

in.  Overcome.  Spread  over,  overshadow.  Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q 
iii.  7.  4:  "All  coverd  with  thick  woodes  that  quite  it  overcame." 

112,  113.  You  make  me  strange,  etc.  "You  render  me  a  stran^ 
ger  to,  or  forgetful  of,  the  brave  disposition  which  I  know  I  possess, 
and  make  me  fancy  myself  a  coward,  when  I  perceive  that  I  am  ter- 
rified by  a  sight  that  has  not  in  the  least  alarmed  you  "  (Malone) . 
So  Schmidt  makes  disposition  here  =  "  natural  constitution  of  th^ 
mind."  For  owe  =  own,  possess,  see  i.  3.  76,  i.  4.  10,  etc. 

1 16.   Mine.     Possibly,  as  some  explain  it,  referring  to  ruby,  not 


Scene  IV]  Notes  247 

to  cheeks ;  but  S.  did  not  always  trouble  himself  to  make  his  pro- 
nouns agree  in  number  with  their  antecedents.  He  very  often  has 
a  singular  relative  (or  at  least  one  used  as  the  subject  of  a  singular 
verb)  with  a  plural  antecedent;  as  in  Cymb.  i.  6.  117  :  "your  graces 
tnat  charms." 

119.  Stand  not,  etc.  That  is,  do  not  be  particular  about  retiring 
m  the  order  of  your  rank  (as  court  etiquette  required).  Cf.  the 
first  line  of  this  scene. 

123.  Stones,  etc.     Mr.  Paton  (Notes  and  Queries,  Nov.  6,  1869, 
v;ited  by  Furness)  suggests  that  there  may  be  an  allusion  "  to  the 
vocking  stones,  or  'stones  of  judgment,'  by  which  it  was  thought 
the   Druids   tested   the   guilt   or  innocence  of  accused   persons." 
There  was  one  of  these  stones  near  Glamis  Castle,  and  if  S.  visited 
Scotland  (which  is,  on  the  whole,  improbable)  he  may  have  seen  it. 

124.  Augurs,  etc.     It  is  doubtful  whether  the  word  means  augurs 
</r  auguries,  but  the  latter  is  more  probable.     For  augur  in  our 
modern  sense  he  uses  augur er  in^A  C.  ii.  i.  200  and  2.  37,  Cor.  ii. 
r.  i,  A.  and  C.  iv.  12.  4  and  v.  2.  337.     Augur  occurs  only  in  Sonn. 
407.  6:  "And  the  sad  augurs  mock  their  own  presage;  "  and  in 
The  Phcenix  and  the  Turtle,  7  :  "Augur  of  the  fever's  end." 

125.  Afagot-pies.     Magpies.     Minsheu  and  Cotgrave  both  have 
(tiaggatapie,  and  Middleton  magot  o'  pie.     Chough,  according  to 
Schmidt,  is  the   Corvus  monedula.     Cf.    Temp.  ii.  I.  266:  "I  my- 
self could  make  A  chough  of  as  deep  chat,"  etc. 

126.  Secret" st.     See    on   kindest,   ii.   I.  24.      What  ="  in  what 
state,  how  far  advanced." 

127.  At  odds.     At  variance,  contesting;   as  in  M.  W.  iii.  I.  54, 
Rich.  III.  ii.  I.  70,  etc. 

128.  How  saVst  thou,  etc.     "What  do  you  think  of  this  circum- 
stance, that  Macduff  refuses  to  come,"  etc.     Cf.  T.  G.  of  V.  ii.  5. 
43  and  M.  of  V.  i.  2.  58.     On  deny  =  refuse,  cf.   Temp.  i.  2.  80, 
M.  of  V.  iii.   3.  26,  Rich.  II.  ii.  I.  204,  etc.     See  also  iv.  I.   104 
below. 

130.    By  the  way.     Indirectly,  casually. 


248  Notes  [Act  m 

136.  I  am  in  blood,  etc.  For  the  repetition  of  in,  cf.  Cor.  ii.  i. 
18:  "In  what  enormity  is  Marcius  poor  in?"  and  A,  Y.  L.  ii.  7. 
139 :  "  The  scene  wherein  we  play  in."  For  the  figure,  cf.  M.  N.  D. 
iii.  2.  47-49- 

138.   As  goober.     As  to  go  over. 

140.  Scanned.     Examined   carefully.     Cf.  Ham.  iii.   3.   75   and 
Oth.  iii.  3.   245. 

141.  The  season  of  all  natures.     That  which  keeps  them  fresh; 
a  figure  taken  from  the  use  of  salt  for  preserving  meat,  and  a 
favourite  one  with  S.     Cf.  Much  Ado,  iv.  I.  144,  T.  N.  i.  I.  30, 
JR.  and  J.  ii.  3.  72,  etc. 

142.  Self-abiise.     Self-deception.     See  on  ii.  I.  50. 

143.  The  initiate  fear.     The  fear  of  a  novice,  or  of  one  who  has 
not  had  "  hard  use  "  (hardening  experience)  in  crime. 

SCENE  V.  —  This  scene,  in  my  opinion,  is  certainly  an  interpola- 
tijn.  See  Appendix. 

i.  Hecate.  For  the  pronunciation,  see  on  ii.  i.  52.  It  is  a 
trisyllable  in  I  Hen.  VI.  iii.  2.  64.  Milton  makes  it  a  dissyllable 
in  Comus,  135,  but  a  trisyllable  in  Comus,  535,  the  only  other 
instance  in  which  he  uses  the  word. 

Anger  ly.     Angrily.     Cf.  K.John,  iv.  I.  82. 

7.    Close.     Secret.     Cf.  R.  and  J.  \.  i.  155,  Cymb.  iii.  5.  86,  etc. 

13.  Loves.  Macbeth  has  not  made  love  to  the  Witches;  and 
this  reference  to  his  having  done  so  would  of  itself  be  sufficient  to 
prove  that  S.  did  not  write  the  scene. 

23.  The  corner  of  the  moon.     Cf.  Milton,  Comus,  1016:  — 

"  And  from  thence  can  soar  as  soon 
To  the  corners  of  the  moon." 

24.  Profound.     "Having  deep  or  hidden  qualities"  (Johnson); 
but  probably  the  writer  used  the  word  for  the  sake  of  the  rhyme, 
with  slight  regard  to  the  meaning. 

26.  Sleights.  Artifices.  The  word  occurs  also  in  3  Hen.  VI. 
iv.  2.  2O. 


Scene  V]  Notes  249 

27.  Artificial.  Produced  by  art,  or  made  visible  by  art.  The 
word  is  used  in  the  active  sense  (artful,  working  artistically)  in 
M.  N.  D.  iii.  2.  203 :  "  like  two  artificial  gods." 

29.    Confusion.     Destruction.     See  on  ii.  3.  50. 

32.  Security.     Carelessness.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  iii.  2.  34,  etc. 

33.  The  folio  has   the   stage   direction,  "  Sing  within.     Come 
away,  come  away,  &V."     It    undoubtedly  refers  to  the  following 
"  Song  "  in    The    Witch  of  Middleton  :  — 

"  Song  above. 

Come  away,  come  away, 
Hecate,  Hecate,  come  away ! 
Hec.  I  come,  I  come,  I  come,  I  come, 

With  all  the  speed  I  may, 
With  all  the  speed  I  may. 
Where  's  Stadlin? 

[  Voice  above^\    Here. 
Hec.   Where  's  Puckle? 
[  Voice  abovel\    Here  ; 

And  Hoppo  too,  and  Hellwain  too; 
We  lack  but  you,  we  lack  but  you ; 
Come  away,  make  up  the  count. 
Hec.  I  will  but  'noint,  and  then  I  mount. 

[A  Spirit  like  a  cat  descends. 

[  Voice  abovel\   There  's  one  comes  down  to  fetch  his  dues, 
A  kiss,  a  coll,  a  sip  of  blood  ; 
And  why  thou  stay'st  so  long 

I  muse,  I  muse, 

Since  the  air  's  so  sweet  and  good. 
Hec.  O,  art  thou  come? 

What  news,  what  news? 
Spirit.  All  goes  still  to  our  delight : 

Either  come,  or  else 
Refuse,  refuse. 

Hec.   Now  I  'm  furnish'd  for  the  flight. 
Fire.   Hark,  hark,  the  cat  sings  a  brave  treble  in  her  own  language. 


250  Notes  [Act  in 

Hec.   \going  up.]   Now  I  go,  now  I  fly, 

Maikin  my  sweet  spirit  and  I. 

O,  what  a  dainty  pleasure  't  is 

To  ride  in  the  air 

When  the  moon  shines  fair, 

And  sing  and  dance,  and  toy  and  kiss ! 

Over  woods,  high  rocks,  and  mountains, 

Over  seas,  our  mistress'  fountains, 

Over  steep1  towers  and  turrets, 

We  fly  by  night,  'mongst  troops  of  spirits : 

No  ring  of  bells  to  our  ears  sounds, 

No  howls  of  wolves,  no  yelps  of  hounds; 

No,  not  the  noise  of  water's  breach, 

Or  cannon's  throat  our  height  can  reach. 
[  Voices  above.]    No  ring  of  bells,"  etc. 

In  Davenant's  version  of  Macbeth,  this  passage  is  inserted,  with 
some  variations,  and  until  the  MS.  of  The  Witch  was  discovered  it 
was  supposed  to  be  his  composition. 

SCENE  VI.  —  I.  Have  but  hit  your  thoughts.  Have  only  con- 
firmed (or  agreed  with)  your  suspicions. 

2.  Only  I  say.     I  only  say.     Only  is  often  thus  misplaced.     Cf. 
/.  C.  v.  4.  12 :  "  Only  I  yield  to  die,"  etc. 

3.  Borne.      Managed,    conducted.      Cf.   line    17    below;     also 
2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  4.  88,   Cor.   v.  3.  4,  etc. 

4.  Marry.     A  corruption  of  Alary,  and  originally  a  mode  of 
swearing  by  the  Virgin.     It  is  often,  as  here,  equivalent  to  a  mono- 
syllable.    On  of—  by,  cf.  27  below. 

8.  Who  cannot  -want,  etc.  The  sense,  as  Malone  pointed  out, 
seems  to  require  can  instead  of  cannot ;  but  it  is  a  peculiar  form 
of  "double  negative,"  occasionally  used  by  S.  Cf.  M.  of  V.  iv.  I. 
161 :  "  Let  his  lack  of  years,"  etc.  See  also  A.  Y.  L.  ii.  3.  12, 

1  Davenant  gives  "  Over  steeples,  towers,  and  turrets,"  which  is  proba- 
bly the  true  reading.  In  another  part  of  the  play,  Hecate  says  "  In 
moonlight  nights,  on  steeple-tops,"  etc. 


Scene  VI]  Notes  251 

W.   T.  iii.  2.  55,  Cymb.  i.  4.  23,  etc.     Monstrous  (which  Capell 
printed  "  monsterous  ")  is  metrically  a  trisyllable. 

10.  Fact.  Delias  points  out  that  S.  uses  this  word  only  in  a  bad 
sense  =  an  evil  deed;  never  in  the  sense  of  reality  as  opposed  to 
fiction.  The  only  meaning  Schmidt  gives  for  the  word  is  "evil 
deed,  crime."  It  occurs  in  S.  fourteen  times:  R.  of  L.  239,  349; 
M.for  M.  iv.  2.  141,  v.  i.  439J  A.  W.  iii.  7-  47;  w-  T-  «»•  2-  86'> 
l  Hen.  VI.  iv.  I.  30;  2  Hen.  VI.  i.  3.  176,  ii.  i.  173;  T.  A.  iv.  I. 
39;  T.  of  A.  iii.  5.  16;  Cymb.  iii.  2.  17;  /Vr.  iv.  3.  12,  and  the 
present  passage.  If  it  is  a  mere  coincidence  that  the  word  always 
has  this  bad  sense,  it  is  curious  enough  to  be  worth  noting. 

13.  Thralls.  Slaves,  bondmen.  S.  uses  the  noun  six  times,  and 
always  in  this  sense  except  in  P.  P.  266  (quite  certainly  not  his), 
where  it  means  slavery.  Cf.  I  Hen.  VI.  i.  2.  1 17,  ii.  3-  36,  Rick.  III. 
iv.  i.  46,  and  Sonn.  154.  12. 

21.  From.  In  consequence  of,  on  account  of.  Cf.  Hen.  VIII. 
i.  2.  152,  Ham.  ii.  2.  580,  etc.  Z?rW=free,  unrestrained.  Cf. 
Ham.  iii.  4.  2:  "his  pranks  have  been  too  broad  to  bear  with;  " 
T.  of  A.  iii.  4.  64:  "  Who  can  speak  broader  than  he  that  has  no 
house  to  put  his  head  in?  Such  may  rail  against  great  buildings." 
See  also  iii.  4.  23  above.  FaiCd  His  presence  =  failed  to  be  pres- 
ent. Cf.  iii.  i.  27:  "Fail  not  our  feast;"  Lear,  ii.  4.  I44: 
"Would  fail  her  obligation,"  etc. 

24.  Bestows  himself.     See  on  iii.  I.  29  above. 

25.  Holds.     Withholds;   as  in  K.John,  ii.  I.  282,  Hen.  V.  ii.  4- 

94,  etc. 

27.    The  most  pious  Edward.     Edward  the  Confessor.     On  of, 

cf.  4  above. 

30    On  upon  =  "  for  the  purpose  of,"  cf.  Oth.  \.  I.  loo,  etc. 

35.  Free.     Remove,  do  away  with.     Cf.  Cymb.  iii.  6.  80 :  "  Would 
I  could  free  't !  "     Malone  made  the  plausible  suggestion  that  t 
line  originally  stood,  "Our  feasts  and  banquets  free  from  K 

knives." 

36.  Free  honours.     "  Either  honours  freely  bestowed,  not  pur 


252  Notes  [Act  m 

chased  by  crimes;    or  honours  without  slavery,  without  dread  of 
a  tyrant"  (Johnson). 

38.  Exasperate.  Cf.  T.  and  C.  v.  I.  34:  "Why  art  thou  then 
exasperate?"  So  "consecrate"  (T.  A.  \.  I.  14,  M.  N.  D.  v.  I. 
422),  "create"  {M.  JV.  D.  v.  I.  412),  and  sundry  other  words 
directly  derived  from  Latin  perfect  participles.  Cf.  Milton,  P.  L. 
iii.  6:  "Bright  effluence  of  bright  essence  increate;  "  Id.  iii.  208: 
"  But  to  destruction  sacred  and  devote,"  etc.  Examples  might  be 
added  from  the  poets  of  our  own  time. 

41.  Cloudy.      Frowning;     or,    perhaps,    gloomy,    sullen.      C'f. 
2  Hen.    VI.   iii.    I.    155:    "cloudy  brow."^   Sometimes   it   means 
"under  a  cloud,"  sorrowing;   as  in  Rich.  III.  ii.   2.  112:   "You 
cloudy  princes  and  heart-sorrowing  peers;  "  R.  of  L.  1084:  "But 
cloudy  Lucrece  shames  herself  to  see,"  etc.     On  the  expletive  use 
of  me,  cf.  M.  of  V.  i.  3.  85,  ii.  2.  15,  etc. 

42.  As  who  shozild  say.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  i.  2.  45,  Rich.  II.  v.  4.  8,  etc. 

48,  49.  Our  siijfering  country,  etc.  That  is,  our  country  suffer- 
ing under,  etc.  Cf.  Hen,  VIII.  iii.  I.  134:  "a  constant  woman  to 
her  husband;  "  Rich.  II.  iii.  I.  9:  "A  happy  gentleman  in  blood 
and  lineaments,"  etc.  See  also  v.  8.  7  below :  — 

"  thou  bloodier  villain 
Than  terms  can  give  thee  out." 


IN  BlRNAM  WOOD 


ACT  IV 

SCENE  I.  —  The  Hecate  part  of  this  scene  is  doubtless  spurious, 
as  in  iii.  5  above. 

1.  Britided.     Meaning  the  same  as  brindled,  which  is  a  "diminu- 
tive "  of  it.     S.  uses  it  only  here.     Milton  has  it  twice  (/".  Z.  vii. 
466  and  Comus,  443),  in  both  cases  applied  to  the  lion. 

2.  Hedge-pig.     Krauth    (quoted   by  Furness)    remarks:     "The 
urchin,  or  hedgehog,  is  nocturnal  in  its  habits,  weird  in  its  move- 
ments;  plants  wither  where  it  works,  for  it  cuts  off  their  roots. 
Fairies  of  one  class  were  supposed  to  assume  its   form.      Urchin 
came  to  mean  fairy  without    reference   to   the  hedgehog  shape; 

253 


254  Notes  [Act  iv 

hence,  because  fairies  are  little  and  mischievous,  it  came  to  be  ap- 
plied to  a  child." 

3.  Harpier.  Some  eds.  have  "  Harper,"  others  "  Harpy."  It 
may  be  a  corruption  of  the  latter  word.  Cries  —  "  gives  them  the 
signal"  (Steevens). 

6.  Cold.  A  dissyllable.  There  is  a  shiver  in  the  prolongation 
of  the  word.  Cf.  3  Hen.  VI.  iv.  3.  14  :  "  While  he  himself  keeps 
in  the  cold  field." 

8.  Venom.  Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  ii.  I.  13  :  "the  toad,  ugly  and  venom- 
ous ;  "  Rich.  HI.  \.  2.  148 :  "  Never  hung  poison  on  a  fouler 
toad ;  "  and  many  other  passages  in  which  the  same  idea  occurs. 
Hunter  says  :  "There  is  a  paper  by  Dr.  Davy  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions  of  1826,  in  which  it  is  shown  that  the  toad  is  venom- 
ous, and  moreover  that  '  sweltered  venom '  is  peculiarly  proper,  the 
poison  lying  diffused  over  the  body  immediately  under  the  skin." 
Whether  Dr.  Davy,  in  his  dissection  of  the  toad,  found  also  the 
"  precious  jewel  in  his  head,"  is  not  stated. 

1 6.  Blind-worm.     The   slow- worm.     Cf.   M.   N.   D.   ii.  2.  ii: 
"Newts  and  blind-worms."     In  T.  of  A.  iv.  3.  182,  it  is  called  the 
"  eyeless  venom'd  worm." 

17.  Howlefs.    The  old  spelling,  altered  in  some  eds.  to  "owlet's." 
Cf.  Holland's  Pliny,  x.  17  :  "Of  Owles,  or  Howlets." 

23.  Mummy.     Cf.  Oth.  iii.  4.  74  :  — 

"  there's  magic  in  the  web  of  it : 

The  worms  were  hallow'd  that  did  breed  the  silk ; 
And  it  was  dyed  in  mummy  which  the  skilful 
Conserv'd  of  maidens'  hearts." 

On  maw,  cf.  iii.  4.  73  above.  Gu!/=  gullet;  as,  figuratively,  in 
R.  of  L.  557,  and  Cor.  i.  i.  101. 

24.  Ravin1  d.   Ravenous;  like  ravin  in  A.   W.  iii.  2.  129  :  "the 
ravin  lion."     See  on  ii.  4.  28. 

25-  Digged.  The  only  form  used  by  S.  for  the  past  tense  and 
participle  of  dig.  Cf.  Rich.  77.  iii.  3.  169,  T.  A.  v.  i.  135,  etc. 


Scene  I]  Notes  255 

The  same  is  true  of  Milton  (see  P.  L.  i.  690,  vi.  516,  etc.)  and  ot 
the  Bible  (Genesis,  xlix.  6,  1.  5,  Exodus,  vii.  24,  etc.). 

27.  •  Yew.     This  tree  was  reckoned  poisonous. 

28.  Slivered.     This  word,  which  is  common  in  this  country  (at 
least  in  New  England),  must  be  less  familiar  in  England,  as  editors 
there  think  it  necessary  to  explain  it. 

Eclipse.     An  unlucky  time.     Cf.  Sonn.  107.  5  :  — 

"  The  mortal  moon  hath  her  eclipse  endur'd, 
And  the  sad  augurs  mock  their  own  presage." 

See  also  Milton,  Lycidas,  101  :  — 

"  It  was  that  fatal  and  perfidious  bark, 
Built  in  the  eclipse,  and  rigg'd  with  curses  dark." 

32.  Slab.     Viscous,  glutinous.     Slabby  has  the  same  meaning. 

33.  Chaudron.     Entrails.     Steevens  found  in  a  cookery  book, 
printed  in  1597,  a  receipt  "  to  make  a  pudding  of  a  calf's  chaldron." 
At  the  coronation  feast  of  Elizabeth  of  York,  queen  of  Henry  VII., 
one  of  the  dishes  was  "  a  swan  with  chaudron,"  meaning  sauce 
made  with  its  entrails. 

37.  Baboon's.     Accented  here  on  the  first  syllable,  but  on  the 
second  in  T.  of  A.  i.  I.  260:   "  Into  baboon  and  monkey,"  etc. 

38.  The  stage-direction  in  the  folios  is  "  Enter  Hecat,  and  the 
other  three  Witches" ;  but  there  is  no  good  reason  for  supposing 
that  there  are  any  other  witches  in  the  scene  than  those  already  on 
the  stage.     Steevens  suggested  that  others  might  be  brought  in  to 
join  in  the  coming  dance. 

43.  The  stage-direction  is  from  the  1st  folio.     The  "Song"  is 
found  in  The  Witch  of  MiddleWh,  where  it  begins  thus  :  — 

"  Black  spirits  and  white,  red  spirits  and  gray, 
Mingle,  mingle,  mingle,  you  that  mingle  may !  " 

Davenant  introduced  this  much  of  it  into  his  version. 

44.  Pricking,  etc.    It  is  a  very  ancient  superstition  that  all  sud- 


256 


Notes  [Act  IV 


den  pains  of  the  body,  which  could  not  naturally  be  accounted  for, 
were  presages  of  somewhat  that  was  shortly  to  happen. 

50.  Conjure.  S.  always  has  the  accent  on  the  first  syllable, 
except  in  R.  and J.  ii.  i.  26,  Oth.  I.  3.  105,  and  Ham.  v.  i.  279. 

53.  Yesty.  Foamy.  Cf.  Ham.  v.  2.  198,  where  it  is  used  figura- 
tively =  light,  frivolous. 

55.  Bladed.  In  the  blade.  Cf.  M.  N.  D.  i.  i.  211 :  "the  bladed 
grass."  On  lodged  (  =  thrown  down,  laid),  cf.  Rich.  II.  iii.  3.  162. 

57.  Slope.  S.  has  the  word  nowhere  else,  either  as  verb  or 
noun.  Its  transitive  use  here  is  peculiar. 

59.  Gennens.     Germs,  seeds.     The  folios  have  "  germaine "  or 
"  germain."     Cf.  Lear,  iii.  2.  8  :  "  Crack  nature's  moulds,  all  ger- 
mens  spill  at  once  "  ("  germaines  "  or  "  germains  "  in  the  early  eds.). 

60.  Sicken.     Be  surfeited.     Cf.  T.  N.  i.  i.  3. 

65.  Farrow.  A  litter  of  pigs.  Steevens  cites  the  law  of  Ken- 
neth II.,  of  Scotland,  given  by  Ilolinshed  :  "If  a  sowe  eate  hir 
pigges,  let  hyr  be  stoned  to  death  and  buried."  Sweaten  is  an 
irregular  form,  used  here  for  the  rhyme. 

68.  The  armed  head  represents  symbolically  Macbeth's  head  cut 
off  and  brought  to  Malcolm  by  Macduff  (v.  8.  53).  The  bloody 
child 'is  Macduff  (v.  8.  15).  The  child  crowned,  -with  a  tree  in  his 
hand,  is  the  royal  Malcolm  (v.  4.  4). 

78.  Had  I  three  ears,  etc.  Whately  {Rhetoric,  iv.  2.  2),  in  illus- 
trating the  imperfection  of  any  system  of  marks  or  signs  to  indicate 
tones  in  elocution,  says  of  this  passage  :  "  No  one  would  dispute 
that  the  stress  is  to  be  laid  on  the  word  three,  and  thus  much  might 
be  indicated  to  the  reader's  eye;  but  if  he  had  nothing  else  to  trust 
to,  he  might  chance  to  deliver  the  passage  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
be  utterly  absurd;  for  it  is  possMe  to  pronounce  the  emphatic 
word  three  in  such  a  tone  as  to  indicate  that  '  since  he  has  but  two 
ears  he  cannot  hear.'  " 

84.  And  take  a  bond  of  fate.     This  legal  metaphor  is  often  used 
by  S.     Cf.  iii.  2.  49  above. 

85.  Pale-hearted  fear.     See  on  ii.  2.  65. 


Scene  I]  Notes  257 

88.  The  round,  etc.  On  round,  cf.  i.  5.  28;  and  on  top,  see 
Temp.  iii.  I.  38 :  "  the  top  of  admiration  ;  "  2  Hen.  VI.  i.  2.  49  : 
"the  top  of  honour;"  M.  for  M.  ii.  2.  76:  "the  top  of 
judgment,"  etc. 

93.  Great  Birnam  wood,  etc.  The  incident  of  the  moving 
forest  is  found  in  various  myths.  Cf.  the  story  of  King  Griinewald, 
which  Professor  Schwarz  has  preserved  in  his  Hessian  Notabilia 
derived  from  oral  tradition  :  "  A  King  had  an  only  daughter,  who 
possessed  wondrous  gifts.  Now,  once  upon  a  time  there  came  his 
enemy,  a  King  named  Griinewald,  and  besieged  him  in  his  castle, 
and,  as  the  siege  lasted  long,  the  daughter  kept  continually  encour- 
aging her  father  in  the  castle.  This  lasted  till  May-day.  Then  all 
of  a  sudden  the  daughter  saw  the  hostile  army  approach  with  green 
boughs  :  then  fear  and  anguish  fell  on  her,  for  she  knew  that  all 
was  lost,  and  said  to  her  father  : — 

" '  Father,  you  must  yield,  or  die, 

I  see  the  green-wood  drawing  nigh."  " 

See  other  instances  in  Grimms'  Tales,  and  elsewhere. 

The  village  of  Birnam  is  a  modern  suburb  of  Dunkeld,  which 
is  about  sixteen  miles  from  Perth.  Birnam  Hill  (1580  feet  high) 
rises  in  front  of  the  village,  at  present  almost  bare  of  trees,  though 
an  attempt  is  being  made  to  clothe  it  again  with  fir  saplings  taken 
from  the  original  "  Birnam  Wood."  In  the  rear  of  the  hotel  are 
two  trees,  an  oak  and  a  plane,  which  are  believed  to  be  a  remnant 
of  this  famous  forest.  The  Dunsinane  hills,  twelve  miles  distant, 
are  visible  from  the  northern  side  of  Birnam  Hill,  which,  as  a  recent 
writer  remarks,  "is  precisely  the  point  where  a  general,  in  full  march 
towards  Dunsinane,  would  be  likely  to  pause  to  survey  the  plain 
which  he  must  cross,  and  from  this  spot  would  the  leafy  screen 
devised  by  Malcolm  become  necessary  to  conceal  the  number  of  the 
advancing  army."  Dunsinane  is  here  accented  on  the  second  syl- 
lable; but  elsewhere  in  the  play  on  the  last  syllable,  or  the  first  and 
MACBETH —  17 


258  Notes  [Act  IV 

last.  The  former  is  the  local  pronunciation,  according  to  Chambers'* 
Encyclopedia. 

95.  Impress.     Press  (as  in  Rich.  II.  iii.  2.  58,  etc.),  force  into  his 
service.     Cf.  i  Hen.  IV.  i.  I.  21,  etc. 

96.  Bodements.      Prophecies.     Used   by   S.   only   here   and   in 
T.  and  C.  v.  3.  80. 

98.  Our  high-placed  Macbeth.     This  seems  strange  in  Macbeth's 
mouth,  and  I  have  seen  no  satisfactory  explanation  of  it.     The  pas- 
sage, from  Sweet  bodements  good  !  to  mortal  custom,  is  probably  either 
corrupt  or  spurious. 

99.  Lease  of  nature.     That  is,  the  natural  period. 
106.  Noise.     Music.     Cf.  Temp.  iii.  2.  144:  — 

"  the  isle  is  full  of  noises, 
Sounds  and  sweet  airs,  that  give  delight  and  hurt  not." 

See  also  Cor.  iii.  i .  95,  Ham.  v.  2.  360,  etc.  Cf.  too  Spenser,  F.  Q. 
i.  12,  39 :  "  During  the  which  there  was  a  heavenly  noise;  "  Milton, 
Hymn  on  Nativ.  97:  "the  stringed  noise;  "  Ode  at  a  Solemn 
Mustek,  18:  "that  melodious  noise;"  and  Coleridge,  Ancient 
Mariner  :  — 

"  It  ceased  ;  yet  still  the  sails  made  on 

A  pleasant  noise  till  noon  — 

A  noise  like  of  a  hidden  brook 

In  the  leafy  month  of  June, 

That  to  the  sleeping  woods  all  night 

Singeth  a  quiet  tune." 

The  word  was  also  used  in  the  sense  of  a  company  of  musicians,  as 
in  2  Hen.  IV.  ii.  4.  13. 

in.  The  stage-direction  in  the  folio  reads:  "A  shew  of  eight 
Kings,  and  Banquo  last,  with  a  glasse  in  his  hand."  This  has  bee^ 
regarded  as  inconsistent  with  what  Macbeth  says  in  line  119;  bvt 
the  figures  shown  in  the  glass  are  not  included. 

1 1 6.  Start,  eyes  !  Apparently  meaning,  "  Start  from  your  sockets, 
so  that  I  may  see  nothing  more." 


Scene  II]  Notes 

117.  The  crack  of  doom.  The  burst  of  sound  at  the  day  of  doom; 
or  the  thunder  announcing  that  day.  Cf.  T.  A.  ii.  i.  3:  "thunder's 
crack;"  and  Temp.  i.  2.  203:  "  cracks  of  sulphurous  roaring."  See 
also  on  i.  2.  37  above. 

121.  Twofold  balls.  This  may  refer  to  the  double  coronation  of 
James,  at  Scone  and  Westminster;  or,  as  otherwise  explained,  to 
the  two  islands,  while  the  treble  sceptres  refers  to  the  three  king- 
doms (England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland),  Henry  VIII.  having  taken 
the  title  of  King  of  Ireland  in  1542. 

123.  Blood-bolter 'd.  Clotted  or  matted  with  blood.  According 
to  the  New  English  Diet.  (Oxford)  battered  \s  related  to  the  provin- 
cial baiter,  to  become  matted. 

127.  Sprights.  This  is  the  spelling  of  the  folio,  and  is  preferred 
by  some  editors  when,  as  here,  the  word  does  not  refer  to  appari- 
tions. Cf.  V.  and  A.  181 :  "And  now  Adonis,  with  a  lazyspright;  " 
R.  of  L.  121 :  "  with  heavy  spright,"  etc. 

130.  Antic.  The  folio  has  "Antique"  here.  We  find  "antick" 
and  "  antique  "  (the  accent  always  on  the  first  syllable)  used  pro- 
miscuously in  the  early  eds.  without  regard  to  the  meaning. 

144.  Anticipafst.     Dost  prevent.     Cf.  Sonn.  118.9:  "to  antici- 
pate The  ills  that  were  not,"  etc. 

145.  Flighty.     Fleeting.     Used  by  S.  nowhere  else.     Overtook  is 
the  usual  form  of  the  participle  in  S. 

147.  Firstlings.  First  produce  or  offspring.  Cf.  T.  and  C. 
prol.  27  :  "  The  vaunt  and  firstlings  of  those  broils." 

150.  The  castle  of  Macduff.  Tradition  makes  this  Dunnemarle 
Castle  near  Culross,  on  the  Forth. 

152.  All  unfortunate  souls,  etc.     All  who  are  so  unlucky  as  to 
be  of  his  lineage. 

153.  Trace.     Follow.     Cf.   Hen.  VIII.  iii.  2.  45 :  "Now  all  my 
joy  Trace  the  conjunction !  "     See  also  I  Hen.  IV.  iii.  I.  47. 

SCENE  II.  —  4.  Traitors.  The  treason  is  the  desertion  of  his 
family. 


260  Notes  [Act  iv 

7.    -Titles.     Possessions,  property;   whatever  he  had  title  to. 

9.  Touch.  Sensibility,  or  feeling.  Cf.  T.  G.  of  V.  ii.  7.  18, 
A.  W.  i.  3.  122,  A.  and  C.  i.  2.  187,  etc. 

The  poor  wren,  etc.  Harting  (  Ornithology  of  S.~)  remarks  that 
the  wren  is  not  the  smallest  of  birds,  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  it 
would  fight  against  a  bird  of  prey  in  defence  of  its  young,  and  that 
the  owl  will  not  take  young  birds  from  the  nest. 

12.   All  is  the  fear.     The  fear  is  all  that  can  have  influenced  him. 

15.  For.  As  regards.  Cf.  Rich.  II.  v.  3.  137:  "But  for  our 
trusty  brother-in-law,"  etc. 

17.  The  jits  o1  the  season.     The  chances  or  uncertainties  of  the 
time.     Cf.  Cor.  iii.  2.  33. 

1 8.  When  we  are  traitors,  etc.     That  is,  are  counted  traitors, 
but  are  not  conscious  of  being  such. 

19.  When  we  hold  rumour,   etc.      When  we  believe  rumours 
because  of  our  fears,  yet  know  not  why  we  should  fear,  being  con- 
scious of  no  fault. 

On  from  •=.  because  of,  cf.  iii.  6.  21  above. 

22.  Each  way  and  move.     A  doubtful  passage;   but  none  of  the 
emendations  are  satisfactory.     If  move  is  what  S.  wrote,  it  is  prob- 
ably a  noun  (=  movements,  motion)  rather  than  a  verb  (=toss 
about),  as  some  make  it. 

23.  Shall.    The  ellipsis  of  the  nominative  when  it  can  be  readily 
supplied  is  not  uncommon. 

29.  ft  would  be  my  disgrace.     That  is,  I  should  give  way  to 
unmanly  weeping.     Cf.  Hen.  V.  iv.  6.  30  :  — 

"  But  I  had  not  so  much  of  man  in  me, 
And  all  my  mother  came  into  mine  eyes, 
And  gave  me  up  to  tears." 

See  also  T.  N.  ii.  I.  42,  for  the  "mother"  excuse. 

30.  Sirrah.     Used   playfully.      It  was  ordinarily  addressed   to 
inferiors,  and  was  considered  disrespectful,  or  unduly  familiar,  if 
applied  to  a  superior.     Cf.  Much  Ado,  iv.  2.  14:  — 


Scene  II]  Notes  261 

"  Dogberry  .  .  .  Yours,  sirrah  ? 
Conrad*.     I  am  a  gentleman,  sir,  and  my  name  is  Conrade." 

It  was  also  addressed  to  women.  See  A.  and  C.  v.  2.  229 : 
"  sirrah  Iras,  go." 

32.  With  worms.  On  worms.  Cf.  Rick.  II.  iii.  2.  175  :  "I  live 
with  bread  like  you." 

34.  Lime.     Bird-lime.     Cf.   Temp.  iv.  I.  246  and  T.  G.ofV.\\. 
2.68. 

35.  Gin.     Snare.     Cf.  T.  N.  ii.  5.  92,  2  Hen.  VI.  iii.  I.  262,  etc. 
See  also  Psalms,  cxl.  5. 

36.  They.     It  is  a  question  whether  this  refers  to  the  traps  just 
mentioned,  or  to  birds.     In  either  case,  the  meaning  is  that  in  life 
traps  are  not  set  for  the  poor  but  for  the  rich. 

47.  Swears  and  lies.  That  is,  proves  false  to  his  oath,  perjures 
himself. 

56.    Enow.     See  on  ii.  3.  6  above. 

65.  In  your  state,  etc.     I  am  perfectly  acquainted  with   your 
noble  rank  and  character.     Clarke  remarks  :  "  The  man  sees  her  in 
her  own  castle,  and  knows  her  to  be  its  lady  mistress;  but  he  also 
seems  to  know  that  she  is  a  virtuous,  a  kind,  a  good  lady  as  well 
as  a  noble  lady,  and  therefore  comes  to  warn  her  of  approaching 
danger."     On  perfect,  cf.   W.  T.  iii.  3.  I  :  — 

"Thou  art  perfect,  then,  our  ship  hath  touch'd  upon 
The  deserts  of  Bohemia  ?  " 

and  Cymb.  iii.  I.  73 :  — 

"  I  am  perfect 

That  the  Pannonians  and  Dalmatians  for 
Their  liberties  are  now  in  arms." 

66.  /  doubt.     I  suspect,  fear.     Cf.  M.  W.  i.  4. 42,  etc. 

67.  Homely.     Plain,  humble.     S.  also  uses  it  in  the  other  sense 
of  plain-featured,  ugly;   as  in   T.  G.  of  V.  ii.  4.  98,  C.  of  E.  ii.  I. 
89,  etc. 

70.    To   do   worse.     That   is,   to   let   her   and  her   children  be 


262  Notes  [Act  iv 

destroyed  without  warning  (Johnson).  Another  explanation  as- 
sumes that  the  messenger  was  one  of  the  murderers  who,  actuated 
by  pity  and  remorse,  had  outstripped  his  companions  to  give  warn- 
ing of  their  approach. 

75.    Sometime.     See  on  i.  6.  II  above. 

81.  Where.     On  where  following  so,  cf.  T.  and  C.  iii.  3.  155: 
"So  narrow  Where  one  but  goes  abreast." 

82.  Shag-haired.     Cf.    2   Hen.   VI.   iii.    I.   367:    "a   shag-hair'd 
crafty  kern"   (the  "rough,  rug-headed  kerns"  of  Rich.  II.  ii.   I. 
156).     On  egg,  cf.  L.  L.  L.  v.  i.  78:  "  thou  pigeon-egg  of  discre- 
tion; "  and  T.  and  C.\.  I.  41 :  "  Finch-egg !  " 

83.  Fry.     Cf.  V.  and  A.  526 :  "  No  fisher  but  the  ungrown  fry 
forbears." 

SCENE  III.  —  Before  the  King's  Palace.  Some  eds.  have  "  A 
Room  in  the  King's  Palace  "  ;  but  cf.  line  140 :  "  Comes  the  king 
forth,  I  pray  you?  " 

3.  Mortal.     Deadly.     Cf.  i.  5.  41  above. 

4.  Bestride.     Stand  over  to  defend.     Cf.  C.  of  E.  v.  I.  192:  — 

"  When  I  bestrid  thee  in  the  wars  and  took 
Deep  scars  to  save  thy  life ;  " 

and  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  i.  207 :  — 

"  Tells  them  he  doth  bestride  a  bleeding  land, 
Gasping  for  life  under  great  Bolingbroke." 

Birthdom  (used  by  S.  nowhere  else)  —  mother  country. 
6.   Strike  heaven,  etc.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  ii.  7.  45  :  — 

"  The  watery  kingdom,  whose  ambitious  head 
Spets  in  the  face  of  heaven." 

We  have  also  "  the  face  of  heaven  '  in  Rich.  III.  iv.  4.  239;  "the 
cloudy  cheeks  of  heaven"  in  Rich.  II.  iii.  3.  57.  The  sun  is  called 
"  the  eye  of  heaven  "  in  i.  3.  275,  and  "  the  searching  eye  of  heaven  " 


Scene  III]  Notes  263 

in  iii.  2.  37,  of  the  same  play.  For  that  =  so  that,  see  on  i.  2.  58 
above. 

8.  Syllable.  Expression,  cry.  Cf.  the  figurative  use  of  the  word 
in  v.  5.  21  below. 

10.  To  friend.  On  to  =  for,  cf.  J,  C.  iii.  I.  143:  "I  know  that 
we  shall  have  him  well  to  friend;  "  Rich.  II.  iv.  I.  307 :  "  I  have  a 
king  here  to  my  flatterer,"  etc.  See  also  Matthew,  iii.  9,  Luke, 
iii.  8,  etc. 

1 2.  Blisters  our  tongues.  We  have  the  same  figure  in  R.  andj. 
iii.  2. 90,  L.  L.  L.  v.  2.  335,  and  W.  T.  ii.  2.  33.  Sole  name  =  mere 
name,  very  name. 

14.  Touch' d.     Cf.  iii.  2.  26  above. 

15.  And  wisdom.     And  it  is  wisdom.     The  ellipsis  of  it  is,  there 
is,  and  simple  is  occurs  not  unfrequently. 

19.  Recoil.  Fall  off,  degenerate  (Schmidt).  Cf.  Cymb.  i.  6. 
128:  "  Recoil  from  your  great  stock."  In  an  imperial  fharge  = 
when  acting  by  a  king's  command. 

21.  Transpose.  Change,  transform.  It  has  the  same  meaning 
in  the  only  other  passage  where  S.  uses  it,  M.  N.  D.  i.  I.  233 :  — 

"  Things  base  and  vile,  holding  no  quality, 
Love  can  transpose  to  form  and  dignity." 

24.  Look  so.    That  is,  look  like  grace.     Cf.  M.  for  M.  ii.  I.  297 : 
"  Mercy  is  not  itself  that  oft  looks  so."     My  hopes  =  my  hope  of 
being  welcomed  by  you  as  an  ally. 

25.  Perchance,  etc.     Perhaps  because  your  own  course  (in  leav- 
ing your  family  as  you  did)  compels  me  to  distrust  you. 

26.  Rawness.     Want  of  due  preparation.     S.  uses  the  word  only 
here,  but  the  adverb  rawly  (also  used  but  once)  has  a  similar  sense 
in  Hen.  V.  iv.  I.  147:  "children  rawly  left." 

27.  Motives.     Often  applied  by  S.  to  persons.     Cf.  T.  of  A.  v. 
4.  27,  Oth.  iv.  2.  43,  A.  and  C.  ii.  2.  96,  etc. 

29.  Jealousies.  "  The  plural  indicates  the  repeated  occasions  for 
his  suspicion  to  which  the  arrival  of  messengers  from  Scotland  gives 


264  Notes  [Act  iv 

rise,  not  merely  his  present  feelings  towards  Macduff ;  and  this  plura! 
occasioned  the  two  others,  dishonours  and  safeties"  (Delius).  See 
on  iii.  I.  121  above. 

34.  Affeer'd.  Confirmed,  sanctioned.  It  is  a  law  term,  applied 
to  the  fixing  of  a  fine  in  cases  where  it  is  not  fixed  by  the  statute. 
Toilet  explains  the  passage  thus:  "Poor  country,  wear  thou  thy 
wrongs;  the  title  to  them  is  legally  settled  by  those  who  had  the 
final  adjudication  of  it." 

37.  To  boot.  In  addition;  still  in  colloquial  use,  at  least  in  New 
England. 

39.  /  think,  I  think  on  the  fact  that,  bear  in  mind  that.  Cf.  iii. 
I.  131 :  "always  thought,"  etc. 

43.  England.  The  king  of  England.  Cf.  line  189  below.  See 
also  K.  John,  iii.  4.  8:  "And  bloody  England  into  England  gone;  " 
Hen.  V.  iii.  6. 131  :  "  England  shall  repent  his  folly;  "  Id.  iii.  6.  166  : 
"Though  France  himself,"  etc.;  W.  T.  i.  I.  23:  "  Sicilia  cannot 
show  himself  overkind  to  Bohemia,"  etc. 

49.  What  should  he  be  ?  What  =  who ;  as  often.  Cf.  Hen.  V. 
iv.  3.  18:  "What's  he  that  wishes  so?"  etc. 

52.  Opened.  Unfolded,  like  buds  or  leaves;  carrying  out  the 
metaphor  in  grafted. 

55.  Confineless.  Boundless.  Not  found  elsewhere  in  S.,  but  we 
have  "  fineless  "  in  the  same  sense  in  Of  A.  iii.  3. 1 73 :  "  riches  fineless." 

57.  Top.     Overtop,  surpass.     Cf.   Cor.  ii.  I.  23:    "topping   all 
others  in  boasting,"  etc. 

58.  Luxurious.     Lustful,  licentious;  the  only  sense  in  which  S. 
uses  the  word.     Cf.  Much  Ado,  iv.  I.  42,  etc.     Luxury  is  used  in  a 
kindred  sense;  as  in  Rich.  III.  iii.  5.  80,  Ham.  i.  5.  83,  etc. 

59.  Sudden.     Violent,  impetuous,  passionate.     Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  ii.  7. 
151  :  "  Sudden  and  quick  in  quarrel;  "   Of  A.  ii.  I.  279  :   "  he  is  rash 
and  very  sudden  in  choler,"  etc. 

64.  Continent.  Restraining.  Cf.  Lear,  i.  2.  182  :  "a  continent 
forbearance."  Cf.  also  the  use  of  the  noun  in  Lear,  iii.  2.  58, 
A.  and  C.  iv.  14.  40,  etc. 


Scene  III]  Notes  265 

66.  Such  an  one.     Cf.  101  below,  where  we  have  "such  a  one." 
Both  forms  are  found  in  the  early  eds. 

67.  In  nature.     In  its  nature. 

71.  Convey  your  pleasures.      Indulge   them    secretly.      So   in 
Rich.  III.  iv.  2.  96,  "  convey  letters "  =  send  them  secretly.     Cf. 
also  Lear,  i.  2.  109,  and  Hen.  V.  i.   2.  74.     Convey  was  used  as  a 
cant  term  for  steal;  as  in  M.  W.  i.  3.  32,  Kick.  II.  iv.  I.  317,  etc. 

72.  The  time  you  may  so  hoodwink.     "That  no  man  shall  be 
aware  thereof"  (Holinshed). 

77.  Ill-composed.     Compounded  of  evil  qualities.     Cf."  well  com- 
posed "  in  T.  and  C.  iv.  4.  79.     Affection  —  disposition. 

78.  Stanchless.    Insatiate.     Cf.  stanch  =  satiate,  in  T.  A.  iii.  1.15. 

82.  That.  So  that.  See  on  i.  3.  57  above.  Forge  =  frame,  fab- 
ricate; used  by  S.  in  both  a  good  and  a  bad  sense.  Cf.  A.  W.  i.  I. 
85  :  "The  best  wishes  that  can  be  forged  in  your  thoughts;  "  Id. 
iv.  i.  26:  "the  lies  he  forges,"  etc. 

86.  Summer-seeming.  Which  appears  to  belong  to  youth,  and 
to  pass  with  it.  It  is  contrasted  with  avarice,  which  is  lifelong. 

88.  Poisons.     Rich  harvests,  plenty.     Cf.  Sonn.  53.  9 :  — 

"  Speak  of  the  spring  and  foison  of  the  year; 
The  one  doth  shadow  of  your  beauty  show, 
The  other  as  your  bounty  doth  appear." 

See  also  Temp.  ii.  I.  163,  iv.  i.  no,  etc. 

89.  Mere  own.     Absolutely  your  own.     Cf.  line  152  below,  and 
also  Oth.  ii.  2.  3 :  "  the  mere  perdition  (that  is,  entire  destruction) 
of  the  Turkish  fleet;  "  Hen.  VIII.  iii.  2.  329:  "the  mere  undoing 
(the  utter  ruin)  of  all  the  kingdom,"  etc. 

Portable.  Endurable;  as  in  Lear,  iii.  6.  115:  "How  light  and 
portable  my  pain  seems  now."  In  the  only  other  instance  of  the 
word  in  S.  it  is  used  in  the  literal  modern  sense :  "  an  engine  not 
portable  "  (  T.  and  C.  ii.  3.  144)-  Holinshed  has  importable  in  this 
connection :  "  mine  intemperancie  should  be  more  importable  vnto 
you,"  etc. 


266  Notes  [Act  iv 

90.    Weighed  with.     Weighed  against,  counterbalanced  by. 

92.  Verity.     Truthfulness,  honesty.     Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  iii.  4.  25  :  "his 
verity  in  love."     Temperance  =  self-restraint.     Cf.  M.  for  M.  iii.  2. 
251,  Hen.  VIII.  i.  i.  124,  Cor.  iii.  3.  28,  Ham.  iii.  2.  8,  etc. 

93.  Perseverance.      Accented    on   the    second    syllable,    as    in 
T.  and  C.  iii.  3.  150.     S.  uses  the  word  nowhere  else.     Per  sever 
he  always  accents  on  the  penult ;    as  in    T.   G.  of  V.  iii.  2.  25 : 
"Ay,  and  perversely  she  persevers  so."     See  also   C.  of  E.  ii.  2. 
217,  M.  N.  D.  iii.  2.  237,  etc. 

95.  Relish  of.  Not  =  relish  for,  but  smack  or  flavour  of.  Cf. 
2  Hen.  IV.  i.  2.  I  ii :  "  some  smack  of  age,  some  relish  of  the  salt- 
ness  of  time;  "  Ham.  iii.  3.  92:  "no  relish  of  salvation." 

98.  The  sweet  milk,  etc.     Cf.  i.  5.  17  above. 

99.  Uproar.   Stir  up  to  tumult.     It  is  found  nowhere  else  as  a 
verb. 

104.  Untitled.     Without  rightful  title. 

105.  Wholesome.     Healthy,  prosperous.     Cf.  M.    W.  v.  5.  63: 
"  In  state  as  wholesome  as  in  state 't  is  fit ; "  Lear,  i.  4.  230 :  "  whole- 
some weal,"  etc. 

106.  Since  that.     See  on  i.  2.  54  above. 

108.  Breed.  Parentage.  Cf.  Rich.  II.  ii.  i.  45:  "This  happy 
breed  (race)  of  men;  "  and  Id.  ii.  i.  52:  "royal  kings,  Fear'd  by 
their  breed"  (on  account  of  their  birth),  etc. 

in.  Died  every  day  she  liv'd.  Lived  a  life  of  daily  mortifica- 
tion (Delius).  Cf.  I  Corinthians,  xv.  31 :  "I  die  daily."  Fare  is  a 
dissyllable. 

118.  Trains.    Artifices,  lures.    Cf.  the  use  of  the  verb  (=  entice, 
allure)  in  C.  of  E.  iii.  2.  45,  L.  L.  L.  i.  i.  71,  i  Hen.  IV.  v.  2.  21,  etc. 

119.  Modest  wisdom,  etc.     Cautious  wisdom  holds  me  back. 
123.    Unspeak.     Cf.  "unsay"  in  Rich.  II.  iv.  i.  9,  M.  N.  D.  i.  I. 

181,  Hen.  VIII.  v.  i.  177,  etc. 

133.  Here-approach.     Cf.  "  here-remain  "  in  line  148. 

134.  Old  Siward.     He  was  the  son  of  Beorn,  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland, and  rendered  great  service  to  King  Edward  in  the  sup- 


Scene  III]  Notes  267 

pression  of  the  rebellion  of  Earl  Godwin  and  his  sons,  1053. 
According  to  Holinshed,  Duncan  married  a  daughter  of  Siward; 
but  in  v.  2.  2  S.  calls  Siward  Malcolm's  uncle. 

135.  At  a  foint.     Like  at  point  =  completely,  prepared  for  any 
emergency.     Cf.  Ham.  i.  2.  200 :  "  Arm'd  at  point;  "  Lear,  i.  4.  347 : 
"  keep  At  point  a  hundred  knights,"  etc. 

136.  The  chance,  etc.     May  the  chance  of  success  be  as  certain 
as  the  justice  of  our  cause. 

140-159.  The  authenticity  of  these  lines  has  been  disputed. 
Fleay  ascribes  them  to  Middleton.  Hales  suggests  that,  if  they  are 
an  interpolation,  S.  may  himself  have  inserted  them  for  the  Court 
•performance. 

142.  Stay  his  cure.  Wait  to  be  healed  by  him.  Cf.  T.  G.  of  V. 
ii.  2.  13 :  "  My  father  stays  my  coming;  "  M.  of  V.  ii.  8.  40:  "  But 
stay  the  very  riping  of  the  time,"  etc.  Convinces,  etc.  =  overpowers 
the  utmost  efforts  of  medical  skill.  On  convinces,  cf.  i.  7.  64  above. 

145.  Presently.     Immediately.     See  on  i.  2.  64  above. 

146.  The  evil.    The  scrofula,  or  "  the  king's  evil,"  as  it  was  long 
called.     Edward's  miraculous  powers  were  believed  in  by  his  con- 
temporaries, and  were  recognized  by  Pope  Alexander  III.,  who  can- 
onized him.    The  power  of  healing  was  claimed  for  his  successors 
early  in  the  twelfth  century.     James  the  First's  practice  of  touching 
for   the    evil  is   mentioned  several  times  in  Nichols's  Progresses. 
Charles  I.,  when  at  York,  touched  seventy  persons  in  one  day. 
Charles  II.  touched  when  an  exile  at  Bruges,  and  also  after  his 
restoration.     One  of  Dr.  Johnson's  earliest  recollections  was  the 
being  taken  to  be  touched  by  Queen  Anne  in  1712.     A  form  of 
prayer  to  be  used  at  the  ceremony  was  introduced  into  the  Book 
Common  Prayer  as  early  as  1684,  and  was  retained  up  to  1719. 
As  late  as  1745  Prince  Charles  at  Holyrood  touched  a  child  for  tl 

CV^'  I         TT      ' 

149.   Solicits.    Moves  by  his  prayers.    Cf.   Rich.  II.  i.  2.  2 
"Doth  more  solicit  me  than  your  exclaims." 
152.  Mere.     See  on  line  89  above. 


268  Notes  [Act  iv 

153.  A  golden  stamp.    There  is  no  evidence  that  the  Confessor 
hung  a  golden  coin  or  stamp  about  the  necks  of  the  patients,  but 
this   custom  prevailed  in  later  days.     Previously  to  Charles  II.'s 
time  some  current  coin,  as  an  angel,  was  used  for  the  purpose,  but 
in  his  reign  a  special  medal  was  struck  and  called  a  "  touch-piece." 
The  touch-piece  which  Queen  Anne  hung  round  the  neck  of  Dr. 
Johnson  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum.     On  stamp  —  coin,  cf. 
M.  W.  iii.  4.  16:  "Stamps  in  gold  or  sums  in  sealed  bags;  "  and 
Cymb.  v.  4.  24 :  "  they  weigh  not  every  stamp." 

154.  Spoken.     Said.     See  on  iii.  4.  8  above. 

160.   My  countryman.     He  recognizes  him  as  such  by  his  dress. 

163.  Means.  S.  sometimes  uses  means  as  a  singular.  QX.M.ofV. 
ii.  1. 19:  "that  means;"  W.  T.  iv.  4.  632 :  "this  means;"  C.  of  E. 
i.  I.  76:  "Other  means  was  none,"  etc.  He  also  often  uses  the 
singular  mean;  as  in  IV.  T.  iv.  4.  89,  Oth.  iii.  I.  39,  J.  C.  iii.  I. 
161,  etc. 

170.  Modern.     Ordinary,  common;   as  in  R.  and  J.  iii.  2.  120: 
"modern  lamentation;"  A.  W.  ii.  3.  2:  "modern  and  familiar," 
etc.     For  ecstasy,  see  on  iii.  2.  22. 

171.  Scarce  ask'd  for  who.     See  on  iii.  I.  122  above. 

172.  Flowers  in  their  caps.     It  was  customary  with  the  High- 
landers, when  on  a  march,  to  stick  sprigs  of  heath  in  their  bonnets. 

173.  Or  ere.     Cf.  Temp.  i.  2.  ii,  Ham.  i.  2.  147,  etc.     The  or, 
like  the  ere,  is  the  Anglo-Saxon  &r,  which  is  found  in  Early  English 
in  the  forms  er,  air,  ar,  ear,  or,  etc.     Ere  seems  to  have  been  added 
to  or  for  emphasis  when  the  meaning  of  the  latter  was  coming  to 
be  forgotten. 

174.  Too   nice.    Too   precise    or   minute;    not  "too  fancifully 
minute,"  as  some  explain  it.     "  Notwithstanding  the  relation  is  so 
full  of  distressing  particulars,  it  is  yet  too  true  "  (Noble  Butler). 

175.  That  of  an  four's  age,  etc.     If  a  man  tells  of  a  crime  that 
is  an  hour  old,  it  exposes  him  to  derision. 

176.  Teems.     Brings  forth.     Cf.  T.  of  A.  iv.  3.  179,  and  Hen.  V. 
v.  2.  51. 


Scene  III]  Notes  269 

177.  Children.  A  trisyllable  here.  The  word  was  originally 
childeren. 

179.   At  peace.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  iii.  2.  127:  — 

"  Richard.   I  warrant  they  have  made  peace  with  Bolingbroke. 
Scroop.      Peace  have  they  made  with  him  indeed,  my  lord." 

183.  Were  out.     Had  taken  the  field.     In  Lear,  i.  I.  33  ("  He 
hath  been  out  nine  years  ")  out  =  abroad,  in  foreign  countries. 

184.  Witness 'd.     Made  credible. 

185.  For  that.     See  on  106  above.     Power  =  army,  forces;   as 
often.     Cf.  line  236  below.     The  plural  was  used  in  the  same  sense 
(so  force  and  forces  now). 

191.  None.     There  is  none.     See  on  15  above. 

192.  Gives  out.     Shows.     Cf.  W.  T.  iv.  4.  149.  T.  N.  iii.  4.  203, 
OtA.  iii.  3.  209,  etc. 

195.  Latch.     Catch.     Cf.  Sonn.  113.6:  — 

"  For  it  no  form  delivers  to  the  heart 
Of  bird,  or  flower,  or  shape,  which  it  doth  latch." 

In  M.  N.  D.  iii.  2.  36  some  make  it  =  smear;  a  meaning  found 
nowhere  else. 

196.  A  fee-grief.     A   grief  that   affects  a  single   person;    like 

property  held  in  fee. 

202.  Possess  them  with.  Fill  them  with.  Cf.  K.John,  iv.  2.  203 : 
"Why  seek'st  thou  to  possess  me  with  these  fears?"  See  also 
I  Hen.  IV.  ii.  2.  112,  Hen.  VIII.  ii.  \.  158,  M.  W.  i.  3-  "°»  etc- 

206.  Quarry.  Dead  bodies;  literally,  the  game  killed  in  hunt- 
ing Cf.  Cor.  i.  i.  202,  and  Ham.  v.  2.  375. 

208.  Ne'er  pull  your  hat,  etc.     Cf.  the  old  ballad  of  «  Northum- 
berland betrayed  by  Douglas  " :  — 

"  He  pulled  his  halt  down  over  his  browe, 
And  in  his  heart  he  was  full  woe,"  etc. 

209.  The  grief  that  does  not  speak,  etc.     Steevens  quotes  Web- 
ster, White  Devil:  — 


270  Notes  [Act  iv 

"  Poor  heart,  break ; 
These  are  the  killing  griefs  which  dare  not  speak." 

Cf.  V.  and  A.  329:  — 

"  the  heart  hath  treble  wrong 

When  it  is  bacr'd  the  aidance  of  the  tongue." 

210.    Whispers.     Cf.  Much  Ado,  iii.  1.4:  "  Whisper  her  ear,"  etc. 

212.    Must  be.     Was  destined  to  be. 

216.  He  has  no  children.  Some  refer  this  to  Macbeth  :  "  there- 
fore my  utmost  revenge  must  fall  short  of  the  injury  he  has  inflicted 
upon  me."  I  prefer,  with  Malone,  to  apply  it  to  Malcolm.  Cf. 
K.John,  iii.  i.  91:  "He  talks  to  me  that  never  had  a  son." 
Moberly  refers  it  to  Macbeth,  but  explains  it  thus :  "  Had  he  had 
children,  he  could  not  have  done  it."  He  cites  3  Hen.  VI.  v.  5. 

63:- 

"  You  have  no  children,  butchers ;  if  you  had, 

The  thought  of  them  would  have  stirr'd  up  remorse." 

220.  Dispute  it.  Fight  against  it;  or,  perhaps,  "reason  upon 
it,"  as  some  explain  it. 

223.  That.  On  that  following  such,  cf.  /.  C.  i.  3.  1 16 :  "  to  such 
a  man  That  is  no  fleering  tell-tale,"  etc. 

225.  Naught.  Worthless  thing.  Cf.  Ham.  iii.  2.  157:  "You  are 
naught,"  etc. 

229.  Convert.  Change.  Cf.  R.  of  L.  592 :  "  For  stones  dissolv'd 
to  water  do  convert;  "  Id.  691 :  "This  hot  desire  converts  to  cold 
disdain;  "  Much  Ado,  i.  I.  123:  "Courtesy  itself  must  convert  to 
disdain,"  etc. 

232.   Intermission.     Delay.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  iii.  2.  201 :  — 

"  You  lov'd,  I  lov'd ;  for  intermission 
No  more  pertains  to  me,  my  lord,  than  you." 

234.  Scape.     See  on  iii.  4.  20  above. 

235.  Too.     "  If  I  don't  kill  him,  then  I  am  worse  than  he,  and 
I  not  only  forgive  him  myself,  but  pray  God  to  forgive  him  also. " 
On  the  adverbial  use  of  manly,  cf.  iii.  5.  I  above. 


Scene  I] 


Notes 


271 


Coleridge  observes:  "How  admirably  Macduff's  grief  is  in  har- 
mony with  the  whole  play !  It  rends,  not  dissolves  the  heart. 
'The  tune  of  it  goes  manly.'  Thus  is  S.  always  master  of  himself 
and  of  his  subject  —  a  genuine  Proteus;  we  see  all  things  in  him, 
as  images  in  a  calm  lake,  most  distinct,  most  accurate,  only  more 
splendid,  more  glorified." 

237.  Our  lack,  etc.  We  need  only  the  king's  leave  to  set  out; 
or,  perhaps,  to  take  our  leave  of  the  king. 

239.  Put  on.  Instigate,  incite;  as  in  Lear,  \.  4.  227,  Oth.  ii.  3. 
357,  etc.  For  instruments  applied  to  persons,  cf.  i.  3.  124  and  iii. 
1 .  80  above. 


CORONATION  CHAIR,  WITH  STONE  OF  SCONE 


ACT  V 

SCENE  I.  —  4.    Went  into  the  field.    Steevens  thinks  S.  forgot  that 
he  had  shut  up  Macbeth  in  Dunsinane;   but,  as  Boswell  notes,  Ross 


272  Notes  [Act  V 

says  (iv.  3.  185)  that  he  had  seen  "the  tyrant's  power  afoot."   The 
strength  of  his  adversaries,  and  the  revolt  of  his  own  troops  (v.  2. 
18),  had  probably  led  him  to  retreat  into  his  castle. 
6.   Nightgown.     See  on  ii.  2.  70  above. 

11.  Effects.     Actions.     Cf.  Ham.  iii.  4.  129,  Lear,  i.  I.  1 88,  ii.  4. 
182,  etc. 

12.  Slumbery.     Used  by  S.  only  here. 

13.  Actual.     "Consisting  in  doing  anything,  in  contradistinction 
to  thoughts  or  words"  (Schmidt);   as  in  Oth.  iv.  2.  153,  the  only 
other  instance  of  the  word  in  S. 

22.    Close.     Hidden;   as  in/.  C.  i.  3.  131,  etc. 

25.  'T  is  her  command.  Dr.  Bucknill  asks :  "  Was  this  to  avert 
the  presence  of  those  'sightless  substances'  (i.  5.  49)  once  im- 
piously invoked  ?  She  seems  washing  her  hands,  and  '  continues 
in  this  a  quarter  of  an  hour.'  What  a  comment  on  her  former 
boast,  '  A  little  water  clears  us  of  this  deed  ! ' >: 

27.  Are  shut.  The  folio  reading,  generally  changed  to  "  is  shut." 
Sense  is  apparently  a  plural  like  horse,  etc.  See  on  ii.  4.  14.  Cf. 
Sonn.  112.  10:  — 

"  my  adder's  sense 
To  critic  and  to  flatterer  stopped  are." 

38.  Hell  is  murky.  Steevens  thinks  that  she  imagines  herself 
talking  to  Macbeth,  and  that  these  are  his  words  which  she  repeats 
contemptuously;  but  it  seems  better  (with  Clarke  and  Noble  Butler) 
to  regard  them  as  the  expression  of  her  own  dread  of  hell. 

48.  You  mar  all,  etc.     Alluding  to  the  terror  of  Macbeth,  when 
the  Ghost  broke  in  on  the  banquet. 

49.  Go  to.     Often  used  as  an  expression  of  exhortation  or  re- 
proof.    Cf.  Temp.  iv.  I.  253,  Oth.  iv.  2.  194,  etc.    See  also  Genesis, 
xi.  3,  4,  7  and  xxxviii.  16,  2  Kings,  v.  5,  etc. 

54.  Smell.  Verplanck,  after  remarking  that  "  the  more  agree- 
able associations  of  this  sense "  are  often  used  for  poetic  effect, 
adds :  "  But  the  smell  has  never  been  successfully  used  as  a  means 
of  impressing  the  imagination  with  terror,  pity,  or  any  of  the  deeper 


Scene  II]  Notes  273 

emotions,  except  in  this  dreadful  sleep-walking  scene  of  the  guilty 
Queen,  and  in  one  parallel  scene  of  the  Greek  drama,  as  wildly 
terrible  as  this.  It  is  that  passage  of  the  Agamemnon  of  yEschylus, 
where  the  captive  prophetess,  Cassandra,  wrapt  in  visionary  in- 
spiration, scents  first  the  smell  of  blood,  and  then  the  vapours  of 
the  tomb  breathing  from  the  palace  of  Atrides,  as  ominous  of  his 
approaching  murder." 

58.  Sorely  charged.  Heavily  laden.  Cf.  iv.  3.  210:  "the  o'er- 
fraught  heart." 

60.    The  dignity,  etc.     The  queenly  rank  of  the  lady. 

64.    Which.     See  on  i.  2.  21  above. 

68.  On  Js.  Of  his.  Cf.  "on  't,"  i.  3.  42,  and  iii.  I.  130.  See 
also  Lear,  i.  4.  114,  iv.  5.  20,  etc. 

81.  Remove,  etc.  Lest  she  commit  suicide.  On  annoyance,  cf. 
K.John,  v.  2.  150,  T.  and  C.  i.  3.  48,  etc. 

83.  Mated.  Bewildered,  paralyzed.  Cf.  V.  and  A.  909,  C.  of  E. 
iii.  2.  54,  v.  i.  281,  and  2  Hen.  VI.  iii.  I.  265. 

SCENE  II.  —  3.  Revenges.  For  the  plural,  see  on  iii.  1. 1 21,  and  cf. 
M.forM.  iv.  3. 140,  A.  IV.  v.  3.  10,  T.  N.V.I.  385,  Cor.  iv.  5. 143,  etc. 

Dear  causes.  Causes  in  which  they  are  intensely  interested. 
Cf.  Lear,  iv.  3.  53:  "Some  dear  cause."  Dear  often  meant 
"  earnest,  heartfelt,  vital,"  and  was  applied  to  what  was  disagree- 
able or  hateful  as  well  as  what  was  agreeable  and  lovable. 

4.  Alarm.     Call  to  arms.     See  on  "  alarum'd,"  ii.  I.  53  above. 

5.  The  mortified  man.     "The  veriest  ascetic "  (Moberly).     Cf. 
L.  L.  L.\.  i.  28.     Schmidt  explains  mortified  as  "  deprived  of  vital 
faculty,  made  apathetic  and  insensible."     There  is  little  to  choose 
between  the  two. 

8.    File.     List.     See  on  iii.  I.  94  above. 

10.  Unrough.     Beardless.      Cf.    Temp.  ii.  I.  250:  "rough  and 
razorable."     See  also  W.  T.  \.  2.  128,  iv.  4.  744,  etc. 

11.  Protest.     Proclaim.     Cf.  iii.  4.  105  :  and  on  first  of  manhood, 
iii.  I.  117. 

MACBETH — 1 8 


274  Notes  [Act  v 

13.   Lesser.    S.  uses  it  several  times  as  an  adverb.    See  on  i.  3.  65. 
15.   He  cannot  buckle,  etc.      We  have  the  same  metaphor  in 
T.  and  C.  ii.  2.  30 :  — 

"  And  buckle  in  a  waist  most  fathomless 
With  spans  and  inches  so  diminutive 
As  fears  and  reasons." 

Distempered  =  disordered,  disorganized. 

1 8.  Minutely.  Happening  every  minute,  continual;  used  no- 
where else  by  S. 

20.  Nothing.  Adverbial,  as  in  v.  4.  2.  For  the  figure  that  fol- 
lows, cf.  i.  3.  145. 

23.  Pestered.  Troubled,  perplexed.  Cf.  Ham.  i.  2.  22,  T.  and 
C,  v.  I.  38,  etc.  On  to  recoil  (=  for  recoiling),  cf.  iv.  3.  19. 

27.  Medicine.  Some  critics  take  this  to  mean  physician  (Fr. 
medecin),  as  in  A.  W.  ii.  I.  75  and  W.  T.  iv.  4.  598;  but  the  next 
line  rather  favours  taking  it  in  its  ordinary  sense.  Him  may  refer 
to  Malcolm,  as  Heath  suggests,  not  to  medicine.  It  is  not  easy  to 
decide  between  the  two  interpretations.  Cf.  iii.  4.  76. 

30.  Dew.  Also  used  as  a  verb  in  V.  and  A.  66,  M.  N.  D.  ii.  I. 
9,  R.  andf.  v.  3.  14,  etc. 

SCENE  III.  —  i.   Them.    That  is,  the  thanes. 

3.    Taint.   Be  infected.    Cf.  Cymb.  i.  4.  148,  and  T.  N.  iii.  4.  145. 

5.   For  prono unce,  cf.  Hen.  VIII.  i.  I.  196. 

8.  English  epicures.    The   Scotch   often   accused   the   English 
of  gluttony.     The    English  too   brought   similar   charges   against 
their  Continental  neighbours.     Delius  quotes  from  the  drama  of 
Edward  III.,  falsely  attributed  to  Shakespeare :  — 

"  Those  ever-bibbing  epicures, 
Those  frothy  Dutchmen,  puff  "d  with  double  beer." 

9.  The  mind  I  sway  by.    That  is,  am  directed  by.     Some  ex- 
plain it,  "by  which  I  bear  rule." 

10.  Sag.     Droop.    The  word  appears  to  be  only  provincial  in 


Scene  III]  Notes  275 

England.     Like  some  other  words  I  have  noted  in  S.,  it  is  still  in 
common  use  in  New  England.     See  on  sliver' d,  iv.  i.  28  above. 

13.    There  is.     The  singular  verb  is  often  used  with  numbers, 
which  seem  to  be  viewed  as  an  aggregate. 

15.  Lily-liver '</.     Cowardly.     Cf.  Lear,  ii.  2.  18:  "  A  lily-liver'd, 
action-taking  knave;  "  M.  of  V.  iii.  2. 86 :  "  livers  white  as  milk;  " 
2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  3.  113:  "the  liver  white  and  pale,"  etc.     Patch  = 
clown,  fool;   as  in  Temp.  iii.  2.  71,  C.  of  E.  iii.  I.  32,  etc. 

1 6.  Linen  cheeks.     Steevens  quotes  Hen.  V.  ii.  2.  74:    "Their 
cheeks  are  paper."     See  on  iii.  4.  1 16. 

20.  Push.     Attack,  onset;   as  in_/.  C., v.  2.  5,  etc. 

21.  Will  cheer  me,  etc.    The  ist  folio  has  "  Will  cheere  me  euer, 
or  dis-eate  me  now";   the  other  folios  have  " disease "  for  "dis- 
eate."     Capell  conjectured  "  disseat,"  which  has  been  generally 
adopted  by  the  editors,  with  Bishop  Percy's  suggestion  of  "  chair  " 
for  cheer.     S.  uses  neither  disseat  nor  the  verb  chair  anywhere  else. 
Furness  suggests  dis-ease,  which,  as  he  remarks,  "  is  the  logical 
antithesis  to  cheer,  and  is  used  with  no  little  force  in  the  earlier 
versions  of  the  New  Testament."     Cf.  Luke,  viii.  49  (both  in  Cran- 
mer's  Version,  1537,  and  in  the  version  of  1581)  :  "Thy  daughter 
is   dead,   disease    not   the    Master."      Cotgrave    gives    "disease, 
trouble,"  etc.,  as  translations  of  the  Fr.  malaiser.     Furness  might 
have  added  as  a  confirmation  of  his  reading  that  in  the  only  other 
instance  in  which  S.  uses  disease  as  a  verb  it  is  in  this  sense.     See 
Cor.  i.  3.  117:  "  She  will  but  disease  our  better  mirth."     He  uses 
the  noun  disease  in  the  sense  of  trouble,  vexation;   as  in  A.  W.  v. 
4.  68  and  T.  of  A.  iii.  I.  56. 

23.  On  yellow  leaf,  cf.  Sonn.  73.  I :  — 

"  That  time  of  year  thou  mayst  in  me  behold 
When  yellow  leaves,  or  none,  or  few,  do  hang 
Upon  those  boughs,"  etc. 

24.  Old  age.     Clarke  suggests  that  Macbeth's  mention  of  himself 
as  in  the  autumn  of  life  is  "  one  of  those  touches  of  long  time 


276  Notes  [Act  v 

systematically  thrown  in  at  intervals,  to  convey  the  effect  of  a  suf- 
ficiently elapsed  period  for  the  reign  of  the  usurper  since  his  murder 
of  the  preceding  king,  Duncan."  Furness  asks :  "  May  we  not  add 
as  one  of  these  '  touches  '  the  tardy  recognition  of  Ross  by  Malcolm 
in  iv.  3.  160?" 

35.  Moe.  More;  used  only  with  plural  or  collective  nouns.  Cf. 
Much  Ado,  ii.  3.  72 :  "  Sing  no  more  ditties,  sing  no  moe  "  (where 
it  rhymes  with  so,  as  it  does  in  R.  of  L.  1479);  J.  C.  ii.  I.  72: 
"there  are  moe  with  him,"  etc.  Skirr  =  scour ;  used  by  S.  only 
here  and  in  Hen.  V.  iv.  7.  64,  where  it  is  intransitive. 

43.  Oblivious.    Causing  forgetfulness.    S.  uses  the  word  only  here 
and  in  the  compound  "  all-oblivious  "  (forgetful  of  all),  Sonn.  55.  9. 

44.  Stujfd  bosom  of  that  perilous  stuff.     There  may  be  a  corrup- 
tion of  the  text  here,  as  many  critics  have  supposed,  but  similar 
repetitions  are  not  uncommon  in  S.     Cf.  v.  2.  19  and  v.  8.  72  in  the 
present  play.     See  also  A.  and  C.  \.  I.  44,  A.  W.  ii.  i.  163,  v.  I.  35, 
R.  and J.  iii.  2.  92,  K.  John,  ii.  i.  471,  etc. 

48.  Staff.  Lance,  according  to  Schmidt;  as  in  K.  John,  ii.  i. 
318,  Rich.  III.  v.  3.  65,  341,  Much  Ado,  v.  I.  138,  etc.  It  may  be 
"  the  general's  baton,"  as  .Wright  explains  it. 

50.  Come,  sir,  dispatch.  This  is  said  to  the  attendant  who  is 
buckling  on  the  armour.  The  agitation  of  the  speaker's  mind  is 
marked  by  the  conflicting  orders  he  gives  the  man.  Cast  was  the 
technical  term  for  finding  out  disorders  by  inspection  of  the  urine. 

52.    Purge,  etc.     Cf.  iii.  4.  76  above. 

55.  Senna.  The  reading  of  the  4th  folio.  The  1st  has  "  Cyme  " ; 
the  2d  and  3d,  "  Geny." 

59.  Bane.  Ruin,  destruction;  as  in  T.  and  C,  iv.  2.  98,  T.  A. 
v.  3.  73,  etc. 

61,  62.   This  second  "rhyming  tag"  may  be  spurious. 

SCENE  IV.  —  2.  That  chambers  will  be  safe.  The  allusion  may 
be  to  the  spies  mentioned  at  iii.  4.  131;  or,  perhaps,  to  Duncan's 
murder. 


Scene  V]  Notes  277 

6.   Discovery.     This  refers  to  Macbeth's  spies. 

10.  For  set  down  =  sit  down,  or  begin  a  siege,  cf.  Cor.  i.  2.  28, 
i.  3.  lio,  T.  of  A.  v.  3.  9,  etc. 

11.  Given.     The  sense  seems  to  require  "gain'd,"  "ta'en,"  or 
"got,"  all  of  which  have  been  suggested  as  emendations;  but  it 
may  mean  "  given  them." 

12.  More  and  less.     Great  and  small.     Cf.  I  Hen.  IV.  iv.  3.  68: 
"  More  and  less  came  in  with  cap  and  knee;  "  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  i.  209 : 
"  And  more  and  less  do  flock  to  follow  him,"  etc. 

14.  Let  our  just  censures,  etc.  "Let  our  just  decisions  on  the 
defection  of  Macbeth's  followers  attend  upon  the  actual  result  of 
the  battle,  and  let  us  meanwhile  be  industrious  soldiers;  that  is, 
let  us  not  be  negligent  through  security"  (Elwin).  On  censure  = 
judgment,  opinion,  cf.  IV.  T.  ii.  I.  37,  Hen.  VIII.  i.  I.  33,  Rich.  III. 
ii.  2.  144,  etc. 

1 8.  Owe.  Here  used  in  the  modern  sense,  as  in  i.  4.  22  and 
v.  2.  26.  For  the  other  meaning  (=  have,  possess)  cf.  i.  3.  76,  i.  4. 
10,  and  iii.  4.  113.  "The  decision  of  the  battle  will  show  us  what 
we  have,  and  at  the  same  time  what  it  is  our  duty  yet  to  do." 

20.  Arbitrate.  Decide.  Mere  speculations  are  of  no  use;  fight- 
ing must  settle  it. 

SCENE  V.  —  5.    Forced.     Reinforced,  strengthened. 

6.  Dareful.     Used  nowhere  else  by  S. 

7.  Beat.     S.  uses  both  beat  and  beaten  for  the  participle,  but  the 
latter  more  frequently. 

10.  CooTd.     Felt  the  chill  of  fear  or  apprehension. 

11.  Fell.     Literally,  skin.     Cf.  A.  IV.  iii.  2.  55  and  Lear,  v.  3.  24. 

12.  Treatise.    Tale,  story;  as  in  V.  and  A.  774  and  Much  Ado, 
i.  3.  317,  the  only  other  instances  in  which  S.  uses  the  word.     On 
rouse,  cf.  iii.  2.  53  above. 

13.  As.    As  if.     Cf.  i.  4.  ii  above.     On  the  passage,  cf.  Ham. 
iii.  4.  121.     For  with,  see  on  iv.  2.  32. 

14.  Direness.     Horror.     Not  used  elsewhere  by  S. 


278  Notes  [Act  v 

15.  Once,  Ever,  at  any  time;  as  in  iv.  3.  167.  Cf.  Rich.  II.  ii. 
3.  91,  Ham.  i.  5.  121,  etc.  Start  —  startle ;  as  in  T.  and  C.  v.  2. 
101,  etc. 

17.  She  should  have  died  hereafter.  It  has  been  suggested  that 
should '—  would  ("  She  would  have  died  some  day  ") ;  but  it  is 
probably  an  expression  of  disgust  that  it  should  have  happened 
when  he  had  so  much  else  to  trouble  him. 

21.  Last  syllable.  Cf.  A.  W.  iii.  6.  75:  "even  to  the  utmost 
syllable  of  your  worthiness." 

23.  Dusty.     Collier   quotes  Anthony  Copley,  Fig  for  Fortune, 
1596:  "Inviting  it  to  dusty  death's  defeature." 

24.  A  poor  player,  etc.     Cf.  T.  and  C.  i.  3.  153:  "Like  a  strut- 
ting player."     S.  has  frequent  figurative  allusions  to  the  stage;  as 
in  i.  3.  128  and  ii.  4.  6  above. 

30.    Gracious  my  lord.     See  on  iii.  2.  27  above. 

37.  This  three  mile.  On  this,  cf.  i  Hen.  IV.  iii.  3.  54;  and  for 
mile  in  the  plural,  M.  W.  iii.  2.  33,  Much  Ado,  ii.  3.  17,  etc. 

40.  Cling.  Shrink  or  shrivel  up.  Moor,  in  his  Suffolk  Words, 
gives:  "Clung:  shrunk,  dried,  shrivelled;  said  of  apples,  turnips, 
carrots,"  etc. 

42.   Pull  in.     Rein  in,  check.     Cf.  Fletcher,  Sea  Voyage,  ii.  I :  — 

"  All  my  spirits, 

As  if  they  had  heard  my  passing-bell  go  for  me, 
Pull  in  their  powers  and  give  me  up  to  destiny." 

"  Pall  in  "  and  "  pale  in  "  have  been  suggested  as  emendations. 

49.  Gin.     See  on  i.  2.  25.     On  aweary,  cf.  M.  of  V.  i.  2.  2, 
M.  N.  D.\.  i.  255,  etc. 

50.  The  estate  of  the  world.     From  the  context  this  would  seem 
to  mean  "  this  worldly  life,"  and  undone  =  ended.     It  is  otherwise 
explained  as  "  the  world's  settled  order." 

51.  Alarum-bell.     See  on  ii.  i.  53.     On  wrack,  cf.  i.  3.  114. 

52.  Harness.     Armour;  as  in  T.  and  C.  v.  3.  31,  A.  and  C.  iv.  8. 
15,  etc.     See  also  I  Kings,  xxii.  34,  2  Chronicles,  xviii.  33  and  ix.  24. 


Scene  VII]  Notes 

SCENE  VI.—  I.   Leavy.     Leafy.    Cf.  Much  Ado,  ii.  3.  75. 

2.   Show.     See  on  i.  3.  54  above. 

4.   Battle.     Battalion.    Cf.  /.  C.  v.  I.  4,  v.  3   108,  /fen.  P.  iv.  3. 

69,  etc. 

7.   £>o  «/<?  but  find.     If  we  only  find. 
10.  Harbingers.    See  on  i.  4.  45  above. 

SCENE  VII.  —  i.  They  have  tied,  etc.  Cf.  Lear,  iii.  7.  54:  "I 
am  tied  to  the  stake,  and  I  must  stand  the  course;  "  also/.  C.  iv. 
i.  48:  "For  we  are  at  the  stake,  And  bay'd  about  with  many  ene- 
mies "  Bear-baiting  was  a  favourite  sport  in  the  olden  time.  The 
bear  was  tied  to  a  stake,  and  a  certain  number  of  dogs  allowed  to 
attack  him  at  once.  Each  of  these  attacks  was  called  a  course. 
Steevens  quotes  Brome,  The  Antipodes,  1638:  "You  shall  , 
ten-dog  courses  at  the  great  bear." 

2     What  V  he,  etc.     See  on  iv.  3.  49  above. 
4.    Young  Siward.    His  name  was  really  Osbeorn  ;  but  his  co 
Siward  was  slain  in  the  same  battle. 
7.    Than  any  is.    Any  which  is. 
17.   Kerns.     See  on  i.  2.  13  above. 

18    Staves.    The  word  Oaf  was  applied  both  to  the  shaft  of 
lance'  and  to  the  lance  itself.     See  on  v.  3.  48-     After  thou,  «  must 
be  encountered,"  or  something  equivalent,  is  understood. 

20.    Undeeded.    Not  used  elsewhere  by  S.;  and  the  same  is  true 
of  clatter  in  the  next  line. 


spiriting  gently." 

27     Itself  firofesses.     Declares  itself. 

29!   Strike  beside  us.    «  Strike  the  air,"  or  -  deliberately  miss  us.' 

Ci.$Hen.  VI.\\.  i.  129:  — 

••  Their  weapons  like  to  lightning  came  and  went; 
Our  soldiers',  like  the  night-owl's  lazy  flight, 


28o  Notes  [Act  v 

Or  like  an  idle  thresher  with  a  flail, 

Fell  gently  down,  as  if  they  struck  their  friends." 

SCENE  VIII.  — There  is  no  new  scene  in  the  folios. 

1.  The  Roman  fool.     This  alludes  perhaps  to  Cato,  whose  suicide 
is  mentioned  in  J.  C.v.  i.  101;   or  it  may  refer  more  generally  to 
"  the  high  Roman  fashion  of  self-destruction,  as  in  Brutus,  Cassius, 
Antony,"  etc. 

2.  Whiles.     See  on  i.  5.  5. 

4.  Of  all  men,  etc.  A  "confusion  of  construction,"  common 
even  now. 

7.    Bloodier  villain,  etc.     For  the  transposition,  see  on  iii.  6.  48. 

9.  Easy.  The  adjective  for  the  adverb,  as  often.  Intr enchant 
—  that  cannot  be  cut;  the  active  word  in  a  passive  sense.  Tren- 
chant is  used  actively  in  T.  of  A.  iv.  3.  115. 

13.  Despair.     Not  elsewhere  used  transitively  by  S.     The  verb 
is  similarly  used  in  Ben  Jonson's  verses  prefixed  to  the  folio  of 
1623 : — 

"  Shine  forth,  thou  Starre  of  Poets,  and  with  rage, 
Or  influence,  chide,  or  cheere  the  drooping  Stage ; 
Which,  since  thy  flight  from  hence,  hath  mourn'd  like  night, 
And  despaires  day,  but  for  thy  Volumes  light." 

14.  Angel.     Genius,  demon;  as  in  A.  and  C.  ii.  3.  21.     We  have- 
angel  in  a  bad  sense  in  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  2.  186,  Lear,  iii.  6.  34,  C.  of  E, 
iv.  3.  20,  etc.     Still^  constantly;   as  in  iii.  i.  21,  etc. 

18.  My  better  part  of  man.  Cf.  A.  and  C.  iv.  6.  39 :  "  my  latter 
part  of  life,"  etc. 

20.   Palter.   Equivocate.  Cf.  T.and  C.  ii.  3.  244,^.  C.  ii.  1. 126,  etc. 

24.  And  live  to  be  the  show,  etc.  Thus  Antony  threatens  Cleo- 
patra in  A.  and  C.  iv.  12/36.  For  the  time,  cf.  i.  5.  63,  i.  7.  81,  and 
iv.  3.  72. 

26.  Upon  a  pole.  That  is,  upon  a  cloth  hung  to  a  pole.  No  ex- 
planation would  seem  to  be  needed,  but  some  critics  have  thought 
it  necessary  to  change  pole  to  "  scroll  "  or  "  cloth." 


Scene  VIII]  Notes  28 1 

34.  Him.  The  cases  of  pronouns  are  often  confused  by  S.  and 
other  writers  of  the  time.  See  on  iii.  4.  14  above. 

36.    Go  off.     Die;   as  "take  off"  =  kill,  in  i.  7.  20  and  iii.  I.  104. 

40.  On  only  .   .   .   but,  cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  \.  192:  "My  lord,  your 
son  had  only  but  the  corpse,"  etc. 

41.  The  which.     See  on  iii.  I.  16  above. 

42.  Unshrinking  station.     Unshrinking  attitude.     Cf.  Ham.  iii. 
4.  58,  and  A.  and  C.  iii.  3.  22,  where  station  is  similarly  used. 

49.  Wish  them  to.  Wish  to  them;  "  the  relation  of  the  dative 
and  accusative  peculiarly  inverted." 

52.  Parted.  Departed,  died.  Cf.  Hen.  V.  ii.  3.  12,  Rich.  III. 
ii.  i.  5,  etc.  Qn  paid  his  score,  cf.  line  39  above. 

54.  Stands.  This  is  explained  by  Holinshed,  who  states  that  the 
tyrant's  head  was  set  upon  a  pole. 

56.  Pearl.  Used  somewhat  like  flower  as  applied  to  more  than 
one  person  in  "  the  flower  of  the  kingdom,"  etc. 

61.  Loves.  See  on  iii.  I.  121  above :  also  L.  L.  L.  v.  2.  793,  798, 
W.  T.  i.  i.  10, /.  C.  iii.  2.  241,  etc. 

66.   ExiPd  friends  abroad.     See  on  iii.  6.  48.     Cf.  7  above. 

68.  Producing  forth.  Bringing  forward;  that  is,  in  a  court  of 
justice.  Cf.  J.  C.  iii.  I.  228:  "Produce  his  body  to  the  market- 
place." See  also  W.  T.  iii.  2.  8,  A.  W.  iv.  1 .  6,  A".  John,  i.  i.  46,  etc. 

70.  Self  and  violent  hands.  Cf.  Rich.  II.  iii.  2.  166:  "self  and 
vain  conceit." 

72.  The  grace  of  .Grace.  This  is  a  favourite  repetition  with  S. 
Cf.  T.  G.  of  V.  iii.  I.  146,  and  A.  W.  ii.  I.  163.  See  on  v.  3.  44. 

74.  One.     Rhyming  with  Scone,  in  accordance  with  the  old  pro- 
nunciation of  one  (like  own).     Cf.  V.  and  A.  293,  and  Sonn.  39.  6. 

75.  Scone.     See  on  ii.  4.  31  above. 


APPENDIX 


COMMENTS  ON  SOME  OF  THE  CHARACTERS 

BANQUO.  —  Several  critics  have  taken  the  ground  that  Banquo 
was  not  "  the  soul  of  honour  "  that  has  generally  been  assumed. 
The  German  Flathe  (quoted  by  Furness  in  his  "  New  Variorum " 
edition  of  the  play)  argued  in  1863  that  he  was  a  bad  character. 
In  1893  a  little  book  entitled,  Some  Few  Notes  on  Macbeth,  was  pri- 
vately printed  by  Mr.  M.  F.  Libby,  English  master  of  the  Jameson 
Avenue  Collegiate  Institute,  Toronto,  the  main  purpose  of  which 
was  to  prove  "  that  Cawdor  died  unjustly,  that  he  was  no  traitor, 
but  an  honourable  gentleman,  sacrificed  to  ambition  by  Macbeth, 
Banquo,  and  Ross." 

In  Poet-lore  for  January,  1 899,  Mr.  C.  S.  Buell  agrees  with  these 
critics  in  their  estimate  of  Banquo.  These  novel  views  are  main- 
tained by  all  three  writers  with  much  ingenuity,  but  I  believe  they 
can  be  shown  to  be  wrong  in  every  particular. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  pretty  certain  that  the  play  was  written 
just  after  James  came  to  the  throne.  Banquo  was  held  to  be  an 
ancestor  of  the  new  king,  and  Shakespeare  directly  refers  to  this  in 
iv.  I,  where,  in  the  line  of  spectral  monarchs  called  up  by  the 
Weird  Sisters,  some  appear  "  That  twofold  balls  and  treble  sceptres 
carry,"  and  the  blood-boltered  Banquo  smiles  and  "points  at  them 
as  his."  Is  it  conceivable  that  the  ancestor  of  the  sovereign  whom 
the  dramatist  thus  desired  to  compliment  would  be  represented  as 
the  accomplice  of  the  regicide  Macbeth? 

Note,  also,  Macbeth's  own  estimate  of  Banquo  as  expressed  when 
he  is  meditating  his  murder  (iii.  i.  48)  :  — 

282 


Appendix  283 


"  Our  fears  in  Banquo 
Stick  deep,  and  in  his  royalty  of  nature 
Reigns  that  which  would  be  fear' d ;  'tis  much  he  dares, 
And,  to  that  dauntless  temper  of  his  mind, 
He  hath  a  wisdom  that  doth  guide  his  valour 
To  act  in  safety." 

Shakespeare  is  fond  of  making  his  villains  pay  an  honest  tribute  to 
the  worth  of  the  men  against  whom  they  are  plotting ;  and  Mac- 
beth, like  Orlando,  lago,  Edmund,  Antonio  (in  The  Tempest,  ii.  I. 
286),  and  others,  does  it  here  as  he  had  done  it  before  with  refer- 
ence to  the  gracious  Duncan.  Observe  that  he  goes  out  of  his  way, 
so  to  speak,  in  order  to  do  it.  This  makes  it  the  more  significant; 
and,  as  in  other  instances  of  the  kind,  Shakespeare  meant  that  we 
should  note  it.  Otherwise,  it  would  have  been  quite  sufficient  to 
make  Macbeth  base  his  fears  of  Banquo  solely  upon  the  fact  that 
the  Weird  Sisters  had  "  hailed  him  father  to  a  line  of  kings." 

Banquo,  as  Macbeth  admits,  is  noble,  wise,  and  brave;  but 
Heaven  help  him  when  a  perverse  critic  is  determined  to  "  spell 
him  backward,"  or  "  turn  him  the  wrong  side  out !  "  Banquo  warns 
his  friend  to  beware  of  trusting  "  the  instruments  of  darkness,"  even 
when  they  tell  us  truths;  "  but,  we  are  told,  "he  is  preaching,  not 
so  much  to  Macbeth  as  to  himself."  The  critic  goes  on  to  read  a 
deal  of  stuff  into  Banquo's  simple  and  honest  utterance  which  is 
not  there.  "  Realizing  the  danger  of  falling  into  temptation,"  he 
yet  believes  "  that  the  only  way  to  really  fall  is  by  doing  something." 
I  cannot  see  how  this  is  implied  in  what  Banquo  has  said;  but  our 
critic  sees  it  and  much  more.  The  Weird  Sisters  have  "  asked  him 
to  do  nothing,  to  say  nothing  that  will  prevent  Macbeth  from  carry- 
ing out  his  scheme;  "  and  he  decides  to  obey  them,  "arguing  with 
himself  that  he  is  not  his  brother's  keeper,  and  that  what  Macbeth 
may  do  is  no  concern  of  his."  But  at  this  time  why  should  he  as- 
sume or  even  suspect  that  Macbeth  is  going  to  do  anything,  good 
or  bad,  to  bring  about  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy?  He  does,  to 
be  sure,  observe  that  his  "  partner 's  rapt."  Well  might  any  man 


284  Appendix 

be  at  predictions  so  strange  and  startling,  especially  when  at  the 
very  moment  they  begin  to  be  verified;  and  what  more  natural  than 
that  a  friend,  noticing  his  absorption,  should  ascribe  it  to  the  "  new 
honours  come  upon  him "  ?  But  our  critic  asks :  "  Is  it  possible 
that  Banquo  does  not  suspect  what  Macbeth  is  thinking  of  in  so 
absorbed  a  manner?  Why  is  it  necessary  to  call  attention  to  his 
rapt  condition  at  all?"  To  the  first  question  I  reply:  Yes,  it  is 
possible;  indeed,  that  he  should  suspect  is  inconceivable.  Up  to 
this  time  Macbeth  has  won  "golden  opinions  from  all  sorts  of 
people,"  Banquo  included,  as  we  know  from  what  he  has  said 
(though  not  recorded  by  Shakespeare)  in  a  following  scene  (i.  4. 
54)  when  Duncan  replies  :  — 

"  True,  worthy  Banquo :  he  is  full  so  valiant, 
And  in  his  commendations  I  am  fed; 
It  is  a  banquet  to  me." 

To  the  second  question  the  obvious  answer  is  that  it  is  Shake- 
speare's device  —  and  a  very  common  one  with  him  —  for  breaking 
up  a  long  soliloquy,  and  at  the  same  time  giving  another  actor 
something  to  say  that  will  at  once  be  natural  and  also  serve  to 
relieve  him  from  the  awkwardness  of  standing  and  looking  on  with 
nothing  to  say. 

The  critic  answers  his  own  questions  by  saying  that  "  two  pos- 
sible explanations  present  themselves,"  the  first  of  which  is  "  that 
Banquo,  in  his  innocence,  meant  what  he  said."  So  far  as  Banquo 
is  concerned,  that  is  a  perfectly  natural  and  satisfactory  explana- 
tion; for,  as  I  have  shown,  Banquo  at  this  time  had  no  reason  for 
suspecting  that  the  thought  of  murdering  Duncan  had  entered 
Macbeth's  mind.  Macbeth's  soliloquy  tells  us  that  it  had,  but 
Banquo  would  not  have  believed  it  if  anybody  else  had  sug- 
gested it. 

It  was  natural,  moreover,  that  he  should  refrain  from  telling  Ross 
and  Angus  what  had  just  occurred;  but  if  he  had  told  them,  it  is 


Appendix  285 

absurd  to  say  that  "  Duncan  would  never  have  been  murdered  by 
the  hand  of  Macbeth."     This  is  a  palpable  non  sequitur. 

"  But  a  second  opportunity  (to  escape  from  destruction)  was  to 
come  to"  Banquo  just  before  he  retired  for  the  night.  He  is 
sleepy,  but  does  not  want  to  go  to  sleep,  because  "  a  heavy  summons 
lies  like  lead  upon"  him.  This  is  merely  due  to  Shakespeare's 
fondness  for  presentiments  (illustrated  so  often  in  the  plays),  and 
does  not  show,  as  we  are  told  by  the  critic,  that  "  he  feels,  yes,  he 
knows,  that  all  is  not  as  it  should  be,"  etc.  He  utters  the  prayer 

(ii.  I.  7)  :  — 

"  Merciful  powers 

Restrain  in  me  the  cursed  thoughts  that  nature 
Gives  way  to  in  repose!  " 

As  the  critic  admits,  this  is  "  capable  of  the  construction  ordina- 
rily put  upon  it,  a  devout  prayer  that  he  may  be  kept  from  bad 
dreams  " ;  but  he  reads  into  it  "  more  than  meets  the  ear  "  or  any 
unbiassed  judgment  — namely,  that  Banquo  is  "  terrified  by  his  wak- 
ing thoughts  as  well,"  which  have  taken  a  "  cursed  "  turn  !  Simi- 
larly, his  natural  exclamation  of  surprise  when  Macbeth  is  hailed 
Thane  of  Cawdor  — "  What,  can  the  devil  speak  true?"  — shows 
that  "the  real  fall"  of  Banquo  occurs;  "the  temptation  is 
complete !  " 

When  Macbeth  endeavours  to  draw  from  Banquo  some  assurance 
that  he  will  be  loyal  to  him  after  he  becomes  king,  adding  that  "  it 
shall  make  honour  for  "  him,  Banquo,  like  the  honest  man  he  is, 
replies  that  this  may  be  ("  I  shall  be  counsell'd,"  that  is,  will  give 
due  consideration  to  what  Macbeth  may  then  have  to  propose)  if 
he  loses  no  honour  "  in  seeking  to  augment  it,"  etc.  Here  again 
our  critic  reads  into  his  words  what  is  not  justified  by  any  fair 
understanding  of  them;  he  assumes  that  Macbeth  wants  him  to 
help  bring  the  prophecy  of  sovereignty  to  pass,  "  and  yet  he  does 
not  warn  his  friend,"  but  goes  off  to  bed  to  "dream  of  the  honour 
that  is  so  soon  to  come !  " 

After  the  murder  of  Duncan  is  known,  Banquo,  who  perhaps 


286  Appendix 

suspects  that  Macbeth  had  a  hand  in  it,  is  the  first  to  propose  an 
investigation  of  this  "  most  bloody  piece  of  work."  Then  follows 
that  noble  utterance,  in  which  he  pledges  himself,  in  God's  name, 
to  do  his  uttermost  "  to  know  it  further  "  (ii.  3.  1 14)  :  — 

"  Fears  and  scruples  shake  us ; 
In  the  great  hand  of  God  I  stand,  and  thence 
Against  the  undivulg'd  pretence  I  fight 
Of  treasonous  malice." 

It  would  seem  that  this  at  least  could  not  be  twisted  or  tortured  to 
support  the  theory  we  are  considering ;  but  our  critic  is  equal  to 
the  occasion.  Ah !  "  Fears  and  scruples !  "  The  scruples  are 
scruples  of  conscience,  "because  he  has  not  done  all  he  should 
have  done";  and  he  fears  "that  he  may  fail  to  convince  and  so 
may  bring  ruin  upon  himself."  So  "  his  fears  get  the  better  of  his 
scruples,  and  he  remains  silent."  He  is  now  "  forever  knit  with  a. 
most  indissoluble  tie  to  the  fortunes  of  Macbeth,"  and  "  his  doom 
is  sealed ! " 

Of  course  "  Fears  and  scruples  shake  us  "  is  naturally  connected 
with  what  precedes.  "  Scruples "  means  "  doubts,  perplexities," 
as  in  the  only  other  instance  of  the  word  in  this  play  (iv.  3.  116) 
and  often  in  other  plays.  Well  might  doubts  and  fears  shake  not 
Banquo  alone  but  all  the  rest  at  the  discovery  of  this  mysterious 
act  of  treason  and  murder.  What  can  be  done  but  endeavour  to 
probe  the  mystery?  When  Banquo  suggests  this,  all  heartily  ap- 
prove it. 

But  our  critic  would  have  Banquo  tell  at  the  moment  what  he 
knows  of  the  prophecy  of  the  Weird  Sisters  and  suspects  of  Mac- 
beth. He  would  have  been  a  fool,  a  madman,  to  have  done  it. 
This  was  neither  the  time  nor  the  place  for  doing  it,  and  to  have 
done  it  would  almost  inevitably  have  defeated  the  ends  of  justice. 
Banquo  displays  here  the  "  wisdom  "  for  which  Macbeth  gives  him 
credit,  and  his  fellow  nobles  have  the  good  sense  to  recognize 
the  fact. 


Appendix  287 

The  flight  of  Malcolm  and  Donalbain  enables  Macbeth  to  throw 
the  suspicion  of  the  murder  upon  them,  and  he  secures  the  throne. 
Banquo  evidently  has  seen  that  he  can  have  no  hope  of  turning 
the  current  of  popular  feeling  against  the  murderer  and  usurper,  as 
he  now  believes  Macbeth  to  be.  It  is  not  until  after  the  coronation 
(iii.  i.  I )  that  Shakespeare  makes  him  distinctly  indicate  his  sus- 
picions, and  he  is  murdered  on  the  evening  of  that  day.  In  the 
conversation  with  Macbeth  that  follows  the  soliloquy,  and  which 
takes  place  in  the  presence  of  Lady  Macbeth  and  others,  he  is 
compelled  to  disguise  his  true  feelings  and  to  indulge  in  common- 
place expressions  of  allegiance.  Had  he  lived  we  may  safely 
assume  that  he  would  have  taken  the  earliest  prudent  opportunity 
of  uniting  his  fortunes  with  those  of  Macduff  and  the  fugitive 
princes  against  the  bloody  tyrant. 

Much  stress  is  laid  by  the  critic  on  the  fact  that  Banquo  "  dwells 
upon  the  prophecy"  that  he  is  to  be  the  father  of  a  line  of  kings. 
"  It  is  a  sweet  morsel  for  him  to  chew  upon."  Why  should  he  not 
feel  an  honest  pride  in  it?  He  has  seen  that  the  prophecies  of  the 
Weird  Sisters  inevitably  fulfil  themselves,  and  he  is  willing  to  wait 
for  the  fulfilment  of  the  prediction  which  concerns  himself,  or  rather 
his  descendants,  though  it  may  not  be  fulfilled  until  after  his  own 
death.  Perhaps  he  remembered  the  significant  utterances  of  the 
Weird  Sisters  — "  Lesser  than  Macbeth,  and  greater,"  "  Not  so 
happy,  yet  much  happier  "  —  and  understood  their  deeper  mean- 
ing: greater,  because  of  "his  royalty  of  nature";  happier,  in  not 
giving  his  eternal  jewel  to  the  common  enemy  of  man,  only  to  feel, 

like  Macbeth,  that  — 

"  Nought 's  had,  all 's  spent 
Where  our  desire  is  got  without  content." 

Indeed,  this  utterance  of  the  Weird  Sisters  really  settles  the 
question  we  are  considering.  It  fixes  the  character  of  Banquo,  &nd 
foreshadows  the  moral  lesson  of  the  play.  At  the  outset  Macbeth 
and  Banquo  appear  together.  They  are  friends  and  equals  in  rank 
and  fortune.  They  are  brave  soldiers  who  up  to  this  time  bave 


288  Appendix 

won  equal  reputation  in  the  field,  and  both  alike  can  look  forward 
to  further  honour  and  promotion.  As  they  are  returning  from  the 
battle  with  the  forces  of  Norway  the  three  hags  cross  their  path. 
Their  mission  is  to  Macbeth,  whom  they  have  come  to  meet  (i.  I. 
7).  They  have  no  errand  for  Banquo,  but  after  hearing  their  pro- 
phetic message  to  Macbeth,  he  asks  them  to  speak  to  him,  though 
he  neither  begs  their  favour  nor  fears  their  hate.  They  know  the 
man,  as  they  knew  Macbeth,  and  the  Power  that  makes  for  right- 
eousness, whose  ministers  they  are  through  the  mysterious  agency 
of  evil,  compels  them  to  speak  truth  to  him  as  they  have  spoken  it 
to  his  friend.  It  is  because  their  wiles  have  no  power  over  him 
that  he  is  happier  than  Macbeth,  whom  their  prophecies  instigate 
to  crime  and  drive  to  destruction.  If  Macbeth  had  been  offered  the 
choice  of  being  either  king  or  the  mere  ancestor  of  kings,  he  would  at 
once  have  decided  on  the  former.  The  greater  and  happier  fortune 
of  Banquo  did  not  consist  alone  or  chiefly  in  the  sovereignty  that 
was  to  come  to  his  descendants. 

It  seems  to  me,  moreover,  that  to  make  Banquo  bad  would 
destroy  the  artistic  balance  of  the  drama.  The  royal  pair  of 
criminals,  "  magnificent  in  sin,"  need  no  iniquitous  rivals  near 
their  infernal  throne.  Banquo  is  wanted  on  the  other  side.  To 
Macbeth  he  seems,  like  Duncan,  an  obstacle  in  his  ambitious 
career.  He  kills  Duncan  to  get  the  throne,  he  kills  Banquo  in 
the  hope  of  securing  the  succession  to  the  throne  for  his  own 
family.  There  is  no  "poetic  justice"  in  either  case;  both,  like 
Macduff's  wife  and  children,  are  innocent  victims  of  the  sin  of 
others,  not  of  their  own. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  critic  who  can  believe  Banquo 
bad  should  adopt  (as  Mr.  Buell  does)  the  notion  that  Macbeth  was 
the  third  murderer.  That  question  is  settled  beyond  dispute  by  the 
fact  that  when  one  of  the  murderers  appears  in  iii.  4,  Macbeth  does 
not  know  that  Fleance  has  escaped.  His  surprise  and  disgust  on 
learning  this  are  evidently  real,  being  expressed  in  soliloquy,  which 
gives  us  what  the  person  actually  believes  and  feels.  If  Macbeth 


Appendix  289 

had  been  present  when  Banquo  was  slain,  Shakespeare  would  not 
have  introduced  one  of  the  murderers  in  that  scene,  or  would  have 
let  Macbeth  dismiss  him  as  soon  as  he  had  reported  what  was 
done. 

Mr.  Libby,  on  the  other  hand,  makes  Ross  the  third  murderer. 
He  says  of  that  worthy  thane  :  "  Ross,  from  a  desire  to  curry  favour 
with  Macbeth,  and  from  other  motives,  traduced  and  ruined  Cajv- 
dor :  Macbeth  and  Banquo  allowed  Cawdor  to  be  ruined,  that  the 
words  of  the  Witches  might  prove  true :  Cawdor  was  in  the  camp, 
unaware  of  the  plot  against  him,  and  the  conspirators,  armed  with 
the  hasty  command  of  the  king,  put  him  to  death  with  complete 
injustice."  Later  Ross,  having  thus  put  Macbeth  under  obligations 
to  him,  follows  the  new  Thane  of  Cawdor  to  Inverness,  and  becomes 
his  chief  minister  after  his  accession  to  the  throne  of  the  murdered 
Duncan.  "  He  is  jealous  of  Banquo,  who  is  the  only  courtier  able 
to  be  his  rival  as  chief  adviser  of  Macbeth.  He  is  the  actual  assas- 
sin of  Banquo  (the  'Third  Murderer  '  of  iii.  3).  At  the  banquet  he 
does  all  that  a  skilful  intriguer  can  do  to  assist  Lady  Macbeth  in 
protecting  Macbeth  in  his  aberration.  Later  on  he  becomes  the 
agent  of  Macbeth  in  the  murder  of  the  Macduffs.  At  this  time  he 
sees  Macbeth's  power  on  the  wane,  and  deserts  him  solely  on  that 
account.  He  goes  to  England  and  finds  Macduff  and  Malcolm, 
and  throws  in  his  lot  with  the  cause  he  rejected  in  iii.  4,  when 
Macduff  remained  loyal  toward  Malcolm.  He  returns  with  the 
prince,  sees  Macbeth  defeated,  and  as  a  reward  of  endless  treachery 
is  made  an  earl,  escaping  immediate  punishment  that  the  Fates 
may  torture  him  later,  in  which  he  resembles  lago,  whom  he  also 
resembles  in  many  other  respects." 

I  shall  not  waste  time  and  space  in  defending  Ross  against  these 
charges.  I  doubt  whether  the  reader  who  has  not  seen  Mr.  Libby's 
book  can,  from  a  study  of  the  small  part  that  Ross  has  in  the  play, 
even  guess  what  the  critic  supposes  he  finds  in  support  of  his  theory 
concerning  the  man. 

HECATE.  —  As  I  have  said  (p.  248  above),  I  fully  agree  with  the 

MACBETH —  19 


290  Appendix 

critics  who  believe  that  the  part  of  Hecate  is  an  interpolation  by 
another  hand  than  Shakespeare's. 

In  the  first  place,  the  measure  of  Hecate's  speeches  is  against  the 
theory  that  Shakespeare  could  have  written  them.  She  speaks  in 
iambics,  while  the  eight-syllable  lines  that  he  puts  into  the  mouth 
of  supernatural  characters  — witches,  fairies,  spirits,  etc.  —  are  regu- 
larly trochaic.  In  iii.  5,  which  is  spurious  throughout,  the  two  lines 
of  the  First  Witch  are  iambic,  like  those  of  the  same  personage  in 
iv.  i.  125-132  ("Ay,  sir,  all  this,"  etc.),  which  are  also  an  obvious 
interpolation;  but  elsewhere  she  and  her  sisters  speak  only  in  tro- 
chaics  when  not  using  the  ordinary  blank  verse,  as  occasionally 
they  do. 

Again,  every  word  that  Hecate  utters  is  absurdly  out  of  keeping 
with  the  context.  In  iii.  5,  she  begins  by  chiding  the  Witches  for 
daring  to  "  trade  and  traffic  "  with  Macbeth  without  calling  on  her 
to  bear  her  part.  The  reference  to  trading  and  trafficking  appears 
to  have  been  suggested  by  the  common  notion  that  the  help  of 
witches  was  to  be  secured  by  a  bargain  with  them;  and  there 
seems  to  be  a  similar  reference  in  iv.  i.  40,  where  Hecate,  com- 
mending the  Witches,  says,  "  And  every  one  shall  share  i'  the  gains." 
What  can  this  possibly  mean  ?  What  were  the  "  gains  "  in  the  busi- 
ness? Macbeth  has  offered  the  Witches  no  bribe,  nor  have  they 
intimated  that  they  expect  or  desire  any. 

Besides,  as  mistress  of  the  Witches,  Hecate  certainly  has  no 
reason  to  find  fault  with  what  they  have  done,  or  with  the  manner 
in  which  Macbeth  has  acted  under  their  inspiration.  She  could 
not  herself  have  managed  the  affair  better.  Wherein,  so  far  as 
the  Witches  are  concerned,  has  Macbeth  proved  "  a  wayward  son, 
spiteful  and  wrathful"? 

But  this  leads  up  to  the  reference  to  love,  introducing  an  idea 
which  Shakespeare  has  entirely  excluded  from  his  delineation  of 
the  Witches.  He  was  familiar  with  it  from  his  readings  in  Regi- 
nald Scot's  Discoverie  of  Witchcraft,  where  we  are  told  that  "  in  a 
moone  light  night  they  [the  Witches]  seeme  to  be  carried  in  the 


Appendix  291 


aire  to  feasting,  singing,  dansing,  kissing,  culling,  and  other  acts  of 
venerie,  with  such  youths  as  they  love  and  desire  most,"  etc.  In 
The  Witch  of  Middleton,  which  some  critics  have  believed  to  be 
earlier  than  Macbeth,  this  idea  is  repeatedly  introduced.  Hecate, 
for  instance,  says  of  Sebastian :  — 

"  I  know  he  loves  me  not,  nor  there  's  no  hope  on  't; 
'T  is  for  the  love  of  mischief  I  do  this, 
And  that  we  're  sworn  to,  the  first  oath  we  take." 

Other  allusions  of  this  kind  in  the  play  are  too  gross  for  quotation 
here.  The  curious  reader  can  refer  to  Middleton  or  to  the  extracts 
from  the  play  in  Furness's  edition  of  Macbeth. 

Some  editors  who  did  not  doubt  the  authorship  of  this  scene 
have  felt  that  "  loves  "  was  incongruous  here,  and  have  suggested 
sundry  emendations;  as  "lives  for  his  own  sake;  "  "loves  evil  tor 
his  own  sake,"  etc.  But  these  readings  merely  substitute  one  diffi- 
culty for  another.  Why  should  Macbeth  be  supposed  to  "  live  "  or 
to  "  love  evil "  for  the  sake  of  the  Witches  rather  than  his  own? 

Hecate  also  tells  the  Witches  to  meet  her  "  at  the  pit  of  Ache- 
ron," for  "thither  he  [Macbeth]  will  come  to  know  his  destiny." 
The  Folio  does  not  indicate  the  locality  of  iv.  I ;  it  simply  has 
"  Thunder.  Enter  the  three  Witches"  like  iii.  5.  Rowe  was  the 
first  to  insert  "  A  Dark  Cave "  —  or  "  A  Cavern,"  etc.,  as  Capell 
and  later  editors  have  it.  The  Cowden-Clarkes  have  this  note  on 
"  Acheron  " :  "  The  Witches  are  poetically  made  to  give  this  name 
to  some  foul  tarn  or  gloomy  pool  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Mac- 
beth's  castle,  where  they  habitually  assemble."  This  is  not  satis- 
factory. The  place  is  one  where  Lennox  comes  (iv.  I.  135),  though 
not  to  consult  the  Witches.  I  suspect  that  Shakespeare  had  in 
mind  the  blasted  heath  where  Macbeth  first  encountered  them. 
However  that  may  be,  the  reference  of  Hecate  to  Acheron  is  best 
explained  as  one  of  the  many  incongruities  in  this  poor  stuff  thrust 
into  the  play  by  some  hack  writer  at  the  suggestion  of  a  theatrical 
manager. 


292  Appendix 

Hecate's  mention  of  the  moon  is  suggested  by  the  familiar  idea 
(often  found  in  Shakespeare's  own  work)  of  the  "watery  moon," 
not  by  the  mythological  connection  of  the  goddess  with  that  orb; 
and  profound  ("  a  vaporous  drop  profound  ")  was  probably  intro- 
duced for  the  rhyme,  though  some  critics  have  thought  the  epithet 
profoundly  Shakespearian.  Hecate  says  that  she  is  going  to  use  it 
for  magic  influence  on  Macbeth,  but  we  hear  nothing  of  it  after- 
ward. In  iv.  i  the  infernal  cuisine  seems  to  be  entirely  in  charge 
of  the  three  Witches,  and  Hecate  appears  only  to  commend  them 
for  what  they  have  done. 

As  I  have  already  said,  the  speech  of  the  First  Witch  after  the 
procession  of  spectral  kings  (iv.  I.  125-132)  is  another  interpola- 
tion, and  no  less  out  of  keeping  than  the  stuff  ascribed  to  Hecate. 
"What,  is  this  so?"  is  appended  to  the  preceding  speech  of  Mac- 
beth to  prepare  the  way  for  it.  Omit  this  and  the  Witch's  speech, 
and  Macbeth's  "  Where  are  they?  "  follows  naturally  on  the  sudden 
disappearance  of  the  apparitions.  The  inserted  speech  is  thrust  in 
solely  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  dance;  and  what  could  be  more 
ridiculous  than  the  reason  given  for  this  performance? 

"  Come,  sisters,  cheer  we  up  his  sprights, 
And  show  the  best  of  our  delights. 
I  '11  charm  the  air  to  give  a  sound 
While  you  perform  your  antic  round, 
That  this  great  king  may  kindly  say 
Our  duties  did  his  welcome  pay." 

Imagine  Macbeth,  in  his  present  mood,  waiting  patiently  to  see 
this  beldame  ballet  through,  and  then,  when  the  withered  ttanseuses 
vanish,  exclaiming :  — 

"  Where  are  they  ?     Gone  ?     Let  this  pernicious  hour 
Stand  aye  accursed  in  the  calendar!  " 

The  attempt  to  "  cheer  up  his  sprights,"  even  from  the  stand- 
point of  Shakespeare's  unauthorized  collaborator,  was  evidently  a 


Appendix  293 

dismal  failure.  It  did  not  occur  to  him  to  modify  the  speech  that 
follows  his  preposterous  interpolation. 

A  writer  in  Poet-lore  is  compelled  to  admit  "  the  inferiority  of 
Hecate's  words,  from  a  poetic  standpoint,"  but  the  explanation  of  it 
is  an  amusing  "trick  of  desperation."  It  is  "an  evidence  of  her 
genuineness  as  a  creation  of  Shakespeare,"  who,  "  with  his  subtle 
sense  of  discrimination,  made  her  what  she  represented  to  the  popu- 
lar mind  :  a  creature  approaching  the  reality  of  the  human,  — vul- 
gar, prosaic,  practical,  yet  in  power  akin  to  the  divine."  That  was 
also  the  popular  conception  of  the  devil ;  and  Milton,  though 
familiar  with  Shakespeare,  evidently  missed  an  opportunity  in  not 
modelling  his  Satan  after  the  pattern  of  this  vulgar  Hecate. 

I  may  remind  the  reader  that  the  managers  of  Shakespeare's  day 
were  much  given  to  these  sensational  additions  to  Shakespeare's 
plays.  The  Hymen  of  As  You  Like  It  and  the  Vision  in  Cymbeline 
are  clear  instances  of  the  kind.  Some  critics  regard  the  Masque 
in  The  Tempest  as  another,  but  I  cannot  agree  with  them.  Songs 
(like  those  from  Middleton  in  iii.  5  and  iv.  I  of  Macbeth)  and  dances 
were  often  thus  interpolated.  These  facts  render  the  theory  I  have 
here  advocated  the  more  probable. 

LADY  MACBETH'S  PHYSIQUE.  —  Dr.  J.  C.  Bucknill,  in  his  Mad 
Folk  of  Shakespeare  (1867),  asks,  "  What  was  Lady  Macbeth's  form 
and  temperament?  "  Mrs.  Kemble,  as  we  have  seen  (p.  29  above), 
calls  her  "  a  masculine  woman,"  but  the  majority  of  critics  who  have 
discussed  the  question  think  otherwise;  and  I  heartily  agree  with 
them.  Dr.  Bucknill  goes  on  to  say:  "  In  Maclise's  great  painting 
of  the  banquet  scene  she  is  represented  as  a  woman  of  large  and 
coarse  development :  a  Scandinavian  Amazon,  the  muscles  of  whose 
brawny  arms  could  only  have  been  developed  to  their  great  size  by 
hard  and  frequent  use;  a  woman  of  whose  fists  her  husband  might 
well  be  afraid.  .  .  .  Was  Lady  Macbeth  such  a  being?  Did  the 
fierce  fire  of  her  soul  animate  the  epicene  bulk  of  a  virago?  Never ! 
Lady  Macbeth  was  a  lady,  beautiful  and  delicate,  whose  one  vivid 
passion  proves  that  her  organization  was  instinct  with  nerve-force, 


294  Appendix 

unoppressed  by  weight  of  flesh.  Probably  she  was  small;  for  it  is 
the  smaller  sort  of  women  whose  emotional  fire  is  the  most  fierce, 
and  she  herself  bears  unconscious  testimony  to  the  fact  that  her 
hand  was  little.  .  .  .  Although  she  manifests  no  feeling  towards 
Macbeth  beyond  the  regard  which  ambition  makes  her  yield,  it  is 
clear  that  he  entertains  for  her  the  personal  love  which  a  beautiful 
woman  would  excite.  .  .  .  Moreover,  the  effect  of  remorse  upon 
her  own  health  proves  the  preponderance  of  nerve  in  her  organiza- 
tion. Could  the  Lady  Macbeth  of  Maclise,  and  of  others  who  have 
painted  this  lady,  have  been  capable  of  the  fire  and  force  of  her 
character  in  the  commission  of  her  crimes,  the  remembrance  of  them 
would  scarcely  have  disturbed  the  quiet  of  her  after-years.  We 
figure  Lady  Macbeth  to  have  been  a  tawny  or  brown  blond  Rachel, 
with  more  beauty,  with  gray  and  cruel  eyes,  but  with  the  same  slight, 
dry  configuration  and  constitution,  instinct  with  determined  nerve- 
power." 

In  a  foot-note,  Dr.  Bucknill  states  that  when  he  wrote  the  above  he 
was  not  aware  that  Mrs.  Siddons  held  a  similar  opinion  as  to  Lady 
Macbeth's  personal  appearance.  I  append  what  Mrs.  Siddons  says  on 
this  subject  in  her  "  Remarks  on  the  Character  of  Lady  Macbeth  " :  — 

"  In  this  astonishing  creature  one  sees  a  woman  in  whose  bosom 
the  passion  of  ambition  has  almost  obliterated  all  the  characteristics 
of  human  nature;  in  whose  composition  are  associated  all  the  sub- 
jugating powers  of  intellect,  and  all  the  charms  and  graces  of  per- 
sonal beauty.  You  will  probably  not  agree  with  me  as  to  the 
character  of  that  beauty;  yet,  perhaps,  this  difference  of  opinion 
will  be  entirely  attributable  to  the  difficulty  of  your  imagination 
disengaging  itself  from  that  idea  of  the  person  of  her  representative 
which  you  have  been  so  long  accustomed  to  contemplate.  Accord- 
ing to  my  notion,  it  is  of  that  character  which  I  believe  is  generally 
allowed  to  be  most  captivating  to  the  other  sex  —  fair,  feminine, 
nay,  perhaps,  even  fragile  — 

"  '  Fair  as  the  forms  that,  wove  in  Fancy's  loom, 
Float  in  light  visions  round  the  poet's  head.' 


Appendix  295 

"  Such  a  combination  only,  respectable  in  energy  and  strength  of 
mind,  and  captivating  in  feminine  loveliness,  could  have  composed 
a  charm  of  such  potency  as  to  fascinate  the  mind  of  a  hero  so 
dauntless,  a  character  so  amiable,  so  honourable  as  Macbeth  —  to 
seduce  him  to  brave  all  the  dangers  of  the  present  and  all  the 
terrors  of  a  future  world;  and  we  are  constrained,  even  whilst  we 
abhor  his  crimes,  to  pity  the  infatuated  victim  of  such  a  thraldom." 

Campbell,  on  the  other  hand,  in  his  Life  of  Mrs.  Siddons,  says 
of  Lady  Macbeth :  "  She  is  a  splendid  picture  of  evil,  ...  a  sort 
of  sister  of  Milton's  Lucifer;  and,  like  him,  we  surely  imagine  her 
externally  majestic  and  beautiful.  Mrs.  Siddons's  idea  of  her  having 
been  a  delicate  and  blond  beauty  seems  to  me  to  be  a  pure  caprice. 
The  public  would  have  ill  exchanged  such  a  representative  of  Lady 
Macbeth  for  the  dark  locks  and  the  eagle  eyes  of  Mrs.  Siddons." 

Maginn  {Shakespeare  Papers,  1860)  remarks:  "Shakespeare 
gives  us  no  hint  as  to  her  personal  charms,  except  when  he  makes 
her  describe  her  hand  as  '  little.'  We  may  be  sure  that  there  were 
few  '  more  thoroughbred  or  fairer  fingers '  in  the  land  of  Scotland 
than  those  of  its  queen,  whose  bearing  in  public  towards  Duncan, 
Banquo,  and  the  nobles  is  marked  by  elegance  and  majesty,  and 
in  private  by  affectionate  anxiety  for  her  sanguinary  lord." 

Fletcher  (Studies  of  Shakespeare,  1847)  says:  "[Shakespeare] 
has  combined  in  Macbeth  an  eminently  masculine  person  with  a 
spirit  in  other  respects  eminently  feminine,  but  utterly  wanting  the 
feminine  generosity  of  affection.  To  this  character,  thus  contrasted 
within  itself,  he  has  opposed  a  female  character  presenting  a  con- 
trast exactly  the  reverse  of  the  former.  No  one  doubts  that  he  has 
shown  us  in  the  spirit  of  Lady  Macbeth  that  masculine  firmness  of 
will  which  he  has  made  wanting  in  her  husband.  The  strictest 
analogy,  then,  would  lead  him  to  complete  the  harmonizing  con- 
trast of  the  two  characters  by  enshrining  this  '  undaunted  mettle ' 
of  hers  in  a  frame  as  exquisitely  feminine  as  her  husband's  is  mag- 
nificently manly.  This  was  requisite,  also,  in  order  to  make  her 
taunts  of  Macbeth's  irresolution  operate  with  the  fullest  intensity. 


296  Appendix 

Such  sentiments  from  the  lips  of  what  is  called  a  masculine-looking 
or  speaking  woman  have  little  moral  energy  compared  with  what 
they  derive  from  the  ardent  utterance  of  a  delicately  feminine  voice 
and  nature.  Mrs.  Siddons,  then,  we  believe,  judged  more  correctly 
in  this  matter  than  the  public." 

Dowden  quotes  Mrs.  Siddons  and  Dr.  Bucknill  approvingly,  and 
says  of  the  Lady :  "  Her  delicate  frame  is  filled  with  high-strung 
nervous  energy.  .  .  .  She  is  Macbeth's  '  dearest  chuck.'  " 

Mr.  F.  S.  Boas  {Shakspere  and  his  Predecessors,  1896)  says:  "It 
is  plain  that  the  woman  who  is  addressed  by  her  husband  as  '  my 
dearest  chuck,'  and  who  talks  of  her  '  little  hand,'  must  have  been 
feminine  in  feature  and  in  bearing.  .  .  .  She  is  not  a  tigress  like 
Regan,  a  she-wolf  like  Margaret  of  Anjou,  but  a  woman  with  the 
instincts  of  womanhood,  which  she  cannot  crush  without  a  deliberate 
effort  of  will." 


THE  TIME-ANALYSIS  OF  THE  PLAY 

This  is  summed  up  by  Mr.  P.  A.  Daniel  in  his  paper  "  On  the 
Times  or  Durations  of  the  Action  of  Shakspere's  Plays  "  (  Transac- 
tions of  New  Shakspere  Society,  1877-79,  p.  207),  as  follows:  — 

"Time  of  the  Play  nine  days  represented  on  the  stage,  and  in- 
tervals. 

Day  i.  Act  I.  sc.  i.  to  iii. 
"     2.  Act  I.  sc.  iv.  to  vii. 
"     3.  Act  II.  sc.  i.  to  iv. 

An  interval,  say  a  couple  of  weeks. 
"     4.  Act  III.  sc.  i.  to  v. 

[Act  III.  sc.  vi.,  an  impossible  time.] 
"     5.  Act  IV.  sc.  i. 

[Professor  Wilson  supposes  an  interval  of  certainly  not 
more  than  two  days  between  Days  5  and  6;  Paton 
marks  two  days,  The  general  breathless  haste  of  the 


Appendix  297 

play  is,  I  think,  against  any  such  interval  between 
Macbeth's  purpose  and  its  execution.] 
Day  6.  Act  IV.  sc.  ii. 

An  interval.    Ross's  journey  to  England.    Paton  allows 

two  weeks. 
"     7.  Act  IV.  sc.  iii.,  Act  V.  sc.  i. 

An  interval.     Malcolm's   return   to   Scotland.     Three 

weeks,  according  to  Paton. 
"     8.  Act  V.  sc.  ii.  and  iii. 
"     9.  Act  V.  sc.  iv.  to  viii." 

On  i.  3  Mr.  Daniel  comments  as  follows :  "  Ross  and  Angus  come 
from  the  King.  Ross  describes  how  the  news  of  Macbeth's  success 
reached  the  King,  by  post  after  post.  He  appears  to  have  entirely 
forgotten  that  he  himself  was  the  messenger;  he,  however,  greets 
Macbeth  with  the  title  of  Cawdor,  and  Angus  informs  Macbeth 
that  Cawdor  lies  under  sentence  of  death  for  '  treasons  capital,'  but 
whether  he  was  in  league  with  Norway,  or  with  the  rebel  [Mac- 
donwald],  or  with  both,  he  knows  not.  Ross  did  know  when,  in 
the  preceding  scene,  he  took  the  news  of  the  victory  to  the  King ; 
but  he  also  appears  to  have  forgotten  it;  at  any  rate  he  does  not 
betray  his  knowledge.  Macbeth's  loss  of  memory  is  even  more  re- 
markable than  Ross's.  He  doesn't  recollect  having  himself  defeated 
Cawdor  but  a  few  short  hours  —  we  might  say  minutes  —  ago;  and 
the  Witches'  prophetic  greeting  of  him  by  that  title,  and  Ross's 
confirmation  of  it,  fill  him  with  surprise  ;  for,  so  far  as  he  knows 
(or  recollects,  shall  we  say?),  the  thane  of  Cawdor  lives,  a  prosper- 
ous gentleman." 

As  to  the  interval  between  Days  3  and  4,  Mr.  Daniel  says :  "  Be- 
tween Acts  II.  and  III.  the  long  and  dismal  period  of  Macbeth's 
reign  described  or  referred  to  in  Act  III.  sc.  vi.,  Act  IV.  sc.  ii.  and 
iii.,  and  elsewhere  in  the  play,  must  have  elapsed.  Macbeth  him- 
self refers  to  it  where,  in  Act  III.  sc.  iv.,  speaking  of  his  Thanes, 
he  says :  — 


298  Appendix 

"  '  There 's  not  a  one  of  them  but  in  his  house 
I  keep  a  servant  fee'd.'  — 

And  again :  — 

"  '  I  am  in  blood 

Stepp'd  in  so  far,  that,  should  I  wade  no  more, 
Returning  were  as  tedious  as  go  o'er." 

Yet,  almost  in  the  same  breath  he  says :  — 

"  '  My  strange  and  self-abuse 
Is  the  initiate  fear  that  wants  hard  use  : 
We  are  yet  but  young  in  deed.' 

"  And  the  first  words  with  which  Banquo  opens  this  Act  — '  Thou 
hast  it  now,"  etc.  —  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  a  few  days  at  the 
utmost  can  have  passed  since  the  coronation  at  Scone;  in  the  same 
scene,  however,  we  learn  that  Malcolm  and  Donalbain  are  bestowed 
in  England  and  in  Ireland:  some  little  time  must  have  elapsed 
before  this  news  could  have  reached  Macbeth.  Professor  Wilson 
suggests  a  week  or  two  for  this  interval.  Mr.  Paton  would  allow 
three  weeks." 

Of  iii.  6,  Mr.  Daniel  says :  "  It  is  impossible  to  fix  the  time  of 
this  scene.  In  it  '  Lennox  and  another  Lord  '  discuss  the  position 
of  affairs.  The  murder  of  Banquo  and  the  flight  of  Fleance  are 
known  to  Lennox,  and  he  knows  that  Macduff  lives  in  disgrace 
because  he  was  not  at  the  feast,  but  that  is  the  extent  of  his  knowl- 
edge. The  other  lord  informs  him  that  Macbeth  did  send  to  Mac- 
duff,  and  that  Macduff  has  fled  to  England  to  join  Malcolm;  and 
that 'thereupon  Macbeth  'prepares  for  some  attempt  of  war.'  All 
this  supposes  the  lapse,  at  the  very  least,  of  a  day  or  two  since  the 
night  of  Macbeth's  banquet;  but  in  the  next  scene  to  this  we  find 
we  have  only  arrived  at  the  early  morning  following  the  banquet, 
up  to  which  time  the  murder  of  Banquo  could  not  have  been 
known;  nor  had  Macbeth  sent  to  Macduff,  nor  was  the  flight  of  the 
latter  known.  The  scene  in  fact  is  an  impossibility  in  any  scheme 
of  time,  and  I  am  compelled  therefore  to  place  it  within  brackets. 


Appendix  299 

See  Professor  Wilson's  amusing  account  of  this  '  miraculous ' 
scene  in  the  fifth  part  of  Dies  Boreales  [reprinted  in  New  Shak- 
spere  Society  Transactions,  1875-76,  pp.  351-58]." 


LIST  OF  CHARACTERS  IN  THE  PLAY 

The  numbers  in  parentheses  give  the  number  of  lines  the  char- 
acters have  in  each  scene. 

Duncan  :  i.  2(15),  4(36),  6(18).     Whole  no.  69. 

Malcolm:  i.  2(6),  4(10);  ii.  3(14);  iv.  3(141);  v.  4(11),  6(6), 
7(2),  8(20).  Whole  no.  210. 

Sergeant:  i.  2(35).     Whole  no.  35. 

Lennox:  1.2(2);  ii.  3(20);  iii.  4(5),  6(32);  iv.  1(6);  v.  2(7). 
Whole  no.  72. 

Ross:  i.  2(18),  3(16);  ii.  4(26);  iii.  4(5);  iv.  2(19),  3(41); 
V.  8(9).  Whole  no.  134. 

Macbeth:  i.  3(50),  4(16),  5(4),  7(48);  ii.  1(45),  2(39),  3(33); 
iii.  1(114),  2(40,4(105);  iv.  i(75);  v-  3(55)»  5(44).  7(IO)>  8(26)- 
Whole  no.  705. 

Banquo:  i.  3(42),  4(2),  6(8);  ii.  1(24),  3(11);  iii.  1(21),  3(4). 
\Vhole  no.  112. 

Angus :  i.  3(12);  v.  2(9).     Whole  no.  21. 

Messenger :  i.  5(5);   iv.  2(9);   v.  5(9).     Whole  no.  23. 

Porter :  ii.  3(40).     Whole  no.  40. 

Macduff:  ii.  3(40),  4(14);  iv.  3(91);  v.  4(3),  6(2),  7(10), 
8(19).  Whole  no.  179. 

Donalbain  :  ii.  3(9).     Whole  no.  9. 

Old  Man:  ii.  4(11).     Whole  no.  ii. 

Attendant:  iii.  1(1).     Whole  no.  I. 

1st  Murderer:  iii.  i(io),  3(11),  4(7);   iv.  2(4).     Whole  no.  32. 

2d Murderer :  iii.  1(8),  3(9).     Whole  no.  17. 

•^d  Murderer :  iii.  3(8).     Whole  no.  8. 


300  Appendix 

Servant:  iii.  2(2);  v.  3(3).      Whole  no.  5. 
Lord:  iii.  4(3),  6(21).     Whole  no.  24. 
1st  Apparition  :  iv.  1(2).     Whole  no.  2. 
2d  Apparition  :  iv.  1(4).     Whole  no.  4. 
^d  Apparition :  iv.  1(5).     Whole  no.  5. 
English  Doctor  :  iv.  3(5).     Whole  no.  5. 
Scotch  Doctor :  v.  1(38),  3(9).     Whole  no.  47. 
Menteith:  v.  2(10),  4(2).     Whole  no.  12. 
Caithness:  v.  2(11).     Whole  no.  n. 
Seyton:  v.  3(3),  5(2).     Whole  no.  5. 

Old  Siward:  v.  4(10),  6(3),  7(6),  8(11).     Whole  no.  30. 
Young  Siward :  v.  7(7).     Whole  no.  7. 
Fleance  :  ii.  1(2).     Whole  no.  2. 
Son  to  Alacduff  :  iv.  2(21).     Whole  no.  21. 
\st  Witch:  i.  1(6),  3(34);   iii.  5(2);   iv.  1(40).     Whole  no.  82. 
zd  Witch:  i.  1(6),  3(12);   iv.  1(30).     Whole  no.  48. 
•$d  Witch:  i.  1(5),  3(14);   iv.  1(29).     Whole  no.  48. 
Hecate :  iii.  5(34)  ;  iv.  1(5).     Whole  no.  39. 
Lady  Macbeth:  i.  5(71),  6(11),  7(43);   ii.  2(46),  3(6);  iii.  1(3), 
2(18),  4(40);  v.  1(23).     Whole  no.  261. 
Lady  Alacduff :  iv.  2(42).     Whole  no.  42. 
Gentlewoman:  v.  1(27).     Whole  no.  27. 
"All":  ii.  3(2);  iii.  5(1).     Whole  no.  3. 

In  the  above  enumeration  parts  of  lines  are  counted  as  whole 
lines,  making  the  total  of  lines  in  the  play  greater  than  it  is.  The 
actual  number  of  lines  is:  i.  1(12),  2(67),  3(156),  4(58),  5(74), 
6(30.  7(82);  ii.  1(64),  2(73),  3(152),  4(41);  iii.  1(142),  2(56), 
3(22),  4(144),  5(37),  6(49);  iv.  1(156),  2(85),  3(240);  v.  1(87), 
2(3I)»  3(62).  4(21).  5(52)»  6(io),  7(29),  8(75).  Whole  no.  in 
the  play,  2108.  The  line-numbering  is  that  of  the  Globe  ed. 

Macbeth  is  the  shortest  of  the  plays,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Comedy  of  Errors  (1778  lines)  and  The  Tempest  (2065). 


INDEX   OF   WORDS   AND   PHRASES 
EXPLAINED 


abuse  (=  deceive),  218. 

battle  (=  battalion),  279. 

chuck,  240. 

access  (accent),  207. 

bellman,  219. 

clept,  236. 

actual,  272. 

Bellona,  192. 

cling,  278. 

addition     (=  title),     200, 

bend  up,  215. 

cloistered,  240. 

237. 

benison,  233. 

close  (=  secret),  248,272. 

addressed  (=  made  ready), 

bestowed,  234,  251. 

closed  (=  enclosed)  ,  237. 

220. 

bestride,  262. 

cloudy  (  =  frowning)  ,  252. 

adhere  (=  cohere),  213. 

Birnam,  257. 

coign,  209. 

admired      (=  admirable)  , 

birthdom,  262. 

cold  (dissyllable),  254. 

246. 

bladed,  256. 

Colme-kill,  232. 

advise  (=  instruct),  238. 

blanket,  207. 

combustion,  226. 

afeard,  200. 

blind-worm,  254. 

commend   (=  offer),  211, 

affeered,  264. 

blood-boltered,  259. 

234. 

alarm,  273. 

bloody,  189. 

composition,  192. 

alarumed,  218. 

bodements,  258. 

compt,  210. 

Aleppo,  194. 

boot,  to,  264. 

connneless,  264. 

all-hailed,  204. 

borne  (=  managed),  250. 

confound  (=  ruin),  220. 

all-thing,  234. 

borne  in  hand,  236. 

confusion    (=ruin),   227, 

angel  (=  genius),  280. 

bosom  interest,  193. 

249. 

angerly,  248. 

both  the  worlds,  239. 

conjure  (accent).  256. 

anon,  189,  242. 

bought  (=  gained),  212. 

content    (=  satisfaction)  , 

antic,  259. 

brainsickly,  221. 

239. 

anticipate      (=  prevent), 

break  to  (with),  213. 

continent  (adjective),  264. 

259. 

breeched,  228. 

convert        (intransitive), 

approve  (=  prove),  209. 

breed  (=  race)  ,  266. 

270. 

arbitrate,  277. 

brinded,  253. 

convey,  265. 

argument  (=  theme),  228. 

broad  (=  free),  251. 

convince    (  =  overcome)  , 

armed  (=  armoured),  245. 

broil  (=  battle),  190. 

214,  267. 

aroint,  194. 

bruited,  279. 

corporal,  199. 

artificial,  249. 

countenance  (verb),  227. 

as  (=  as  if),  202,  220,  231, 

cancel,  240. 

course,  279. 

277. 

captains  (trisyllable),  191.     coursed,  210. 

as  who  should  say,  252. 

card  (of  compass)  ,  194. 

cousin,  191,  201. 

at  a  point,  267. 

careless  (passive),  202. 

crack  (of  doom),  259. 

at  first  and  last,  242. 

casing,  242. 

cracks  (=  charges),  191. 

at  odds,  247. 

Cawdor  Castle,  192. 

Cumberland,  203. 

at  quiet,  225. 

censure      (  =  judgment)  , 

auger-hole,  229. 

277. 

dainty  of,  229. 

augurs,  247. 
authorized  (accent),  244. 

champion  (verb),  236. 
chastise  (accent),  205. 

dear,  273. 
deliver  (=  report)  ,  204. 

choke  their  art,  190. 

demi-wolves,  236. 

baboon  (accent),  255. 

chaudron,  255. 

deny  (=  refuse),  247. 

baby  (=  doll),  246. 

cheer,  243. 

despair  (transitive),  280. 

badged,  227. 

cherubin,  212. 

devil  (monosyllable),  200. 

bane  (=  ruin),  276. 

children  (trisyllable)  ,  269. 

dew  (verb,  274). 

banquet,  204. 

chough,  247. 

digged,  254. 

301 

302         Index  of  Words  and  Phrases 


direness,  277. 

Forres,  195. 

his  (=  its),  211. 

dis-ease,  275. 

frame,  239. 

holds  (=  withholds),  251. 

displaced     (=  banished), 

franchised,  217. 

holp,  210. 

246. 

free  (=  remove),  251. 

home  (=  completely)  ,  200. 

dispute,  270. 

from  (=  apart  from),  237, 

homely,  261. 

distance      (=  alienation), 

243- 

horses  (metre),  230. 

237. 

from  (=  because  of  )  ,  260. 

hose  (French),  225. 

distempered,  274. 

from   (=  on   account   of)  , 

housekeeper  (dog),  237. 

dollars,  193. 

251- 

howlet,  254. 

doubt  (=  suspect),  261. 

fry,  262. 

human  (  =  humane),  245. 

drowse,  241. 

fume,  214. 

hurly-burly,  188. 

dudgeon,  218. 

furbished,  191. 

husbandry  (=  thrift),  216. 

Dunsinane,  257. 

Hyrcan,  245. 

gallowglasses,  190. 

each  way  and  move,  260. 

gentle  my  lord,  239. 

ignorant,  208. 

easy  (adverb),  229,  280. 

gentle  (proleptic),  209. 

ill-composed,  265. 

eat  (=  ate),  231. 

gently  (=  readily),  279. 

illness  (=  evil),  205. 

eclipse,  255. 

germens,  256. 

impress  (=  press),  258. 

ecstasy,  239. 

get  (=  beget),  199. 

in  (repeated),  248. 

effects  (=  actions),  272. 

gild  (with  blood),  222. 

incarnadine,  223. 

egg,  262. 

gilt  (play  upon),  222. 

Inchcolm,  193. 

embrace(=  undergo),  238. 

gin  (=  begin),  191,  278. 

informs,  218. 

England  (=  King  of  Eng- 

gin (=  snare),  261. 

inhabit,  246. 

land),  264. 

give  out  (=  show),  '269. 

initiate  (adjective),  248. 

enkindle  unto,  200. 

Glamis  Castle,  196. 

insane  (proleptic),  199. 

enow,  225,  261. 

go  off  (=  die),  281. 

instruments  (of  persons), 

entrance  (metre),  207. 

go  to,  272. 

271. 

estate,  278. 

go  with  me,  241. 

intermission,  270. 

eternal  jewel,  235. 

God  'ield,  210. 

intrenchant,  280. 

evil  (=  scrofula),  267. 

golden  (blood),  222,  228. 

lona,  232. 

exasperate,  252. 

Golgotha,  191. 

it  (of  persons),  204. 

expedition,  227. 

goose  (tailor's),  225. 

Gorgon,  227. 

jump  (=  risk),  211. 

fact  (=  evil  deed),  251. 

gospelled,  236. 

jutty,  209. 

faculties,  211. 

gouts,  218. 

fail  (his  presence),  251. 

graced,  243. 

kerns,  190,  279. 

fantastical,  198,  201. 

grave  =  (weighty),  234. 

knell  (=  passingbell),2i9. 

fare  (dissyllable),  266. 

Graymalkin,  189. 

knowings,  230. 

farrow,  256. 

grooms,  220. 

favour,  202,  208. 

gulf  (=  gullet),  254. 

laced,  227. 

fear  (=  cause  of  fear),  201. 

lack  (=  miss),  245. 

fee-grief,  269. 

hail  (dissyllable),  189. 

lamp  (travelling),  230. 

fell  (=  skin),  277. 

hangman,  220. 

lapped,  192. 

file  (=  list),  237,  273. 

happy  (=  fortunate)  ,  198. 

large       (=  unrestrained), 

filed  (=defiled),  235. 

harbinger,  203. 

242. 

firstlings,  259. 

harness  (=  armour),  278. 

latch  (=  catch),  269. 

fits  o"  the  season,  260 

Harpier,  254. 

lated,  241. 

flaws,  244. 

having      (=  possessions), 

lavish  (=  insolent),  192. 

flighty,  259. 

198. 

leave  (=  leave  off),  240. 

flout,  192. 

heaven  (plural),  216. 

leavy,  279. 

foisons,  265. 

heavy  (=  drowsy),  217. 

lesser,  198,  274. 

for  (=  as  regards)  ,  260. 

Hecate,  218,  248. 

like  (=  likely),  231. 

for  (=  because  of),  237. 
forbid  (=  accursed)  ,  195. 

hedge-pig,  253. 
here-approach,  266. 

lily-livered,  275. 
limbeck,  214. 

forced,  277. 

hermits  (beadsmen),  210. 

lime  (=  bird-lime\  261. 

forge  (=  frame),  265. 

him  (=  he),  281. 

limited  (=appointed),  226. 

Index  of  Words  and  Phrases        303 


line  (=  strengthen),  200. 
list  (=  lists),  236. 

note  (=  notoriety),  240.        proportion,  203. 
nothing  (adverb),  200.          prosperous,  234. 

listening  (transitive),  221. 

protest,  273. 

lodged,  256. 

oblivious,  276.                          pull  in,  278. 

loves  (plural),  237. 

obscure  (accent),  226.           purveyor,  210. 

luxurious    (=  licentious), 

of  (=  by),  250,  251. 

push  (=  onset),  275. 

264. 

offices,  217. 

put  on  (=  set   at   work), 

old  (colloquial),  225. 

271. 

magot-pies,  247. 

on  (=  of)  ,   199,  237,  238, 

mansionry,  209. 

273.                                        quarrel,  190. 

marry,  250. 

one  (pronunciation),  281.     quarry,  269. 

martlet,  209. 

once  (=  ever),  278, 

quell  (=  murder),  214. 

mated        (=  bewildered)  , 

opened,  264. 

273. 

or  ere,  268. 

ravin,  231. 

maukin  (ormawkin),  189. 

other  (=  otherwise),  215. 

ravined,  254. 

maw,  254. 

ourselves  (=  each  other),     rawness,  263. 

medicine,  274. 

243.                                         readiness,  229. 

memorize,  191. 
mere    (=  absolute)  ,     265, 

out  (=  in  the  field),  269.       receipt(=  receptacle),  214. 
overcome,  246.                         receive  (=  believe),  215. 

267.                                      |  owe    (=own),    199,   202,     recoil  (=  fall  off),  263." 

metaphysical,  205.                i      246,  277. 

relish  of,  266. 

mettle,  215. 

remembrance    (metre), 

mile  (plural),  278.                  Paddock,  189. 

240. 

minion  (=  darling),    190,     pall  (=  wrap),  207. 

remorse  (=  pity)  ,  207. 

231.                                        palter,  280. 

require  (=  request),  242. 

minutely    (=  every    min-     parley,  227 

resolve  yourselves,  238. 

ute),  274.                              parted  (=died),  281. 

ronyon,  194. 

missives  (=  messengers),     passion,  244. 

roofed,  243. 

204.                                      i  patch  (=fool),  275. 

rooky,  241. 

mockery,  246.                          pearl,  281. 

Ross,  199. 

modern  (=  ordinary),  268.  .  pent-house,  195. 

round(=  crown),  205,  257. 

moe,  276.                                  perfect,  261. 

rouse  (intransitive),  241. 

monstrous      (trisyllable),     perseverance  (accent), 

rub,  238. 

251.                                            266. 

rump-fed,  194. 

mortal    (=  deadly),     207,     pestered,  274. 

245,  262.                                physic  (=  cure),  226. 

safe  toward,  203. 

mortality  (=  life),  227.          place  (in  falconry),  230. 

sag,  274. 

mortified,  273.                          poorly,  223. 

Saint  Colme's  Inch,  193. 

motives  (persons),  263.         portable,  265. 

saucy,  242. 

mousing,  230.                          possess  with,  269. 

say  (=  tell),  189. 

mummy,  254.                           posset,  220. 

scanned,  248. 

murther,  201. 

posters,  195. 

scaped,  242,  270. 

muse  (=  wonder),  245. 

power  (=  army)  ,  269. 

Scone,  231. 

predominance,  230. 

scotched,  239. 

napkin,  225. 

present       (=  immediate)  , 

screw,  214. 

naught,  270.                                 193. 

season,  248. 

nave  (=  navel),  191.            \  presently  (=  at  once),  193, 

seated  (=  fixed),  201. 

near  (=  nearer)  ,  229. 

267. 

security,  249. 

near'st,  237. 

pretence  (=  purpose)  ,  229. 

seeling,  240. 

nice  (=  precise),  268. 

pretend    (=  intend),    229,     shipman,  194. 

nightgown,  223. 

231.                                         self  (adjective),  281. 

noise  (=  music),  258. 

probation  (=  proof)  ,  236.      self-abuse,  248. 

nonpareil,  242. 

producing  forth,  281.              sennet,  234. 

Norways',  193. 

profound,  248. 

sense  (plural),  272. 

Norweyan,  191. 

proof  (=  armour),  192. 

sensible,  218 

note  (=  list),  241. 

proper  (ironical),  244.           sergeant  (metre),  189. 

304         Index  of  Words  and   Phrases 


set  down,  277. 

stay  (=  wait  for)  ,  267. 

ranspose,  263. 

sewer,  210. 

still  (=  always),  234,  280. 

realise,  277. 

shag-haired,  262. 

stir  (=  motion),  202. 

renched,  242. 

shard-borne,  240. 

studied,  200. 

rifled,  229. 

shine,  233. 

success,  211. 

ugged,  237. 

shoal,  211. 

sudden  (=  violent),  264. 

wofold  balls,  259, 

shoughs,  236. 

summer-seeming,  265. 

show  (=  appear)  ,  190,  198, 

surcease,  211. 

undeeded,  279. 

252. 

surveying,  191. 

unrough,  273. 

shut  up,  217. 

sway  by,  274. 

unspeak,  266. 

sicken    (=be    surfeited), 

sweaten,  256. 

untitled,  266. 

256. 

syllable,  263. 

upon  a  thought,  244. 

sightless  (=  invisible), 

uproar  (verb),  266. 

202,  207,  212. 

taint  (=  be  infected),  274. 

using  (=  cherishing),  239 

Sinel,  199. 

taking-off,  211. 

utterance,  to  the,  236. 

single,  201,  210. 

tale  (=  counting),  200. 

sirrah,  260. 

teems  (transitive),  268. 

valued  (=  valuing),  237. 

Siward,  266. 

temperance,  266. 

vantage,  191. 

skirr,  276. 

tending,  205. 

venom  (adjective),  254. 

slab,  255. 

thane,  192.   . 

verity    (=  truthfulness). 

sleave,  221. 

that,  152. 

266. 

sleights,  248. 

the  which,  234,  281. 

vessel,  235. 

slivered,  255. 

thee  (=  thou),  205. 

visards,  240. 

slope  (transitive),  256. 

thickens,  241. 

slumbery,  272. 

think,  264. 

wassail,  214. 

so    (omitted),    192,    198, 

thought  (=  kept  in  mind)  , 

water-rugs,  236. 

211,  220,  265. 

221. 

weird,  195. 

sole,  263. 

thralls  (=  slaves),  251. 

what,  264,  279. 

solemn  (=  formal),  234. 

tidings  (number),  205. 

which  (=  who),  191. 

solicit  (=  move  by  pray- 

timely (=  betimes),  241. 

while  (=  till),  235. 

ers),  267. 

timely  (adverb),  226. 

whiles,  204,  219,  241. 

soliciting,  201. 

titles  (=  claims).  260. 

who  (=  whom),  238,  243. 

something   (adverb),  238. 

to    (=  compared     with), 

wholesome     (=  healthy), 

sometime,  210,  262. 

244. 

266. 

sooth,  191. 

to  (=  for),  263. 

with  (=  by),  235. 

sorry,  220,  239. 

to  (=  in  addition  to),  235. 

with  (=  on),  261. 

speak  (=  say),  242. 

to  (omitted),  243. 

without  (=  beyond),  239. 

speculation,  245. 

top  (=  crown)  ,  257. 

witnessed,  269. 

spoken  (=  said),  268. 

top  (verb),  264. 

worm  (=  serpent),  243. 

spongy  (=  drunk),  214. 

top-full,  207. 

wrack,  200. 

sprights,  259. 

touch  (=  sensibility),  260. 

wren,  260. 

spy  o'  the  time,  238. 

toward     (and     towards)  , 

wrought       (=  agitated), 

staff  (=   lance),  276,279. 

218. 

202. 

stamp  (=  coin)  ,  268. 

towering    (in     falconry), 

stanchless,  265. 

230. 

yesty,  256. 

start  (=  startle),  278. 

trace,  259. 

yew  (poisonous),  255. 

state  (=  chair),  242. 

trains  (=  tricks),  266. 

station  (=  attitude),  281. 

trammel  up,  211. 

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